The Stars
by mangafreak007
Summary: The Bone Eater's Well is destroyed in a fight with Naraku, Kagome awakens dangerous new powers and almost kills Naraku. She is cut off from the future. Five years later she has matured and trained to become a full priestess. While Naraku hides and licks his wounds, Kagome becomes intricately involved in the demon world. New adventures, friends and dangers await the young woman.
1. Prologue

A/N: Welcome to the new version of The Stars. To those of you who read the old version, thank you for doing so and I am sorry that I had to remove it, but this is the definitive version of the story. I won't be changing it again and I really hope you enjoy it as much as you did the old one. To those of you who have never read the old version, welcome and I hope you enjoy your time reading this.

* * *

 **Prologue**

A young woman, with hair as dark as the blackest night, turned her blue-grey eyes to the clouds in the sky. At first glance she seemed to be a priestess, but her attire was much darker in colour. She wore a white kosode underneath a black hitoe. A pair of black hakamas were tied closed with a dark red obi. The only decoration on her clothing was the red sode-kukuri – cords – woven through the ends of her long sleeves. On her feet were white tabi and rice straw sandals.

She solemnly gazed upon the bright blue sky, from the roof of a wooden hut, while she reflected upon the events that lead to the current circumstances of her companions and herself.

Five long years ago, her silver haired companion had yelled out their arch nemesis' name in utter panic. He told her that the foul demon that they were pursuing was at the sacred Bone-Eaters Well, the fickle portal to five hundred years in the future. The future was her present, the time she was born in and the time her family lived in.

She remembered the panic that filled her every pore as she sprinted after her friends. She arrived at the edge of the clearing, last, and out of breath. The young priestess-in-training could only watch in shock as her love interest – at the time – charged the vile demon head on without assessing the situation or their surroundings. While it wasn't unusual for their red-clad friend to fight in this way, in that battle it was particularly crucial for him to pay attention to his surroundings.

She knew that she alone had to protect the Well. Her friends and companions – their silver-haired half demon alpha, the female demon slayer, the lecherous monk, the fire demon cat and the demon fox kit – did not fully understand the importance of the Bone-Eater's Well to her.

The familiar rush of power and adrenalin was at the forefront of her mind – as always – when recalling a battle in the past. The power she felt, as she had continuously loosed deadly purification arrows at the evil hanyou, usually brought a small smile of pride to her lips. However her smile receded as she remembered her frustration at trying to lure the vile creature away from her precious Well and failing.

Heavy eyelids fell closed over her sharp blue-grey gaze, as she recalled screaming at the silver-haired alpha to stop his attack. However none of her companions heard her over their Alpha's roar as he let loose a massive wind scar attack from his sword.

The young woman remembered the satisfied smirk on the evil half-demon's handsome face as he dodged out of the way. She often wondered how he found out about the well's whereabouts and if he even knew what it was for, but she had yet to find out the truth behind his actions on that day. Since he had dodged, the wind scar hit the next thing in it's path dead on. The well shattered into a million pieces and so had a piece of the raven haired priestess's heart.

There was no way she could forget the feeling of utter despair as she watched the time travelling magic of the well leak from the broken wood and fade away in the air. Something snapped inside of her as her piercing gaze fell on the smirking face of her vile nemesis and she scowled.

As the raven haired priestess gathered all her powers from deep inside of herself, she faintly recalled her friends starting up their relentless attack again, throwing all their strength at the evil half demon. She remembered how her blood boiled and how her senses rapidly expanded. Her perception of time slowed down enough that she could feel every groove in her wooden bow and sense every strand of wind that fluttered past. Her powers throbbed painfully throughout her body as it enveloped her and concentrated in a blinding white glow at the point of her arrow.

She recalled the feeling of utter stillness as she waited for an opportunity to fire her arrow. It came in the form of their red-clad alpha being thrown against a tree, though she witnessed this event in extreme slow motion.

She fired her arrow before his back harshly hit the wooden tree. The evil half-demon barely had enough time to react to her superhuman firing speed. The priestess opened her eyes as she recalled the excruciating moment her heart had stopped – just for an instant – but long enough to still her boiling blood, as she let the worn string of her bow release from her soft fingers.

Everything in that moment she remembered as clearly as if it happened the previous day. She could easily recall the white arc the arrow made as it flew towards its target. She revelled in the terrified expression on her nemesis' face, as his entire body exploded in a blinding white light.

However before her arrow was able to destroy all of his body, he encased his heart and the remaining half of his head in a miniature barrier. His purifying flesh flew in every direction and landed on everything. He still called the smoking meat back to himself, encased himself in a second barrier and flew high into the sky.

She didn't remember anything after he flew away as the adrenalin high that had been sustaining her dissipated, but the brown haired demon slayer told her what had happened afterwards. The slayer said that their alpha jumped into the sky and shot one more wind scar attack after the dying creature, but it hit nothing as the evil half demon dissolved into the sky as if he were made of the wind itself.

The slayer went on to say that the priestess herself walked over to the well hole, picked up a piece of the broken well and fell into its gaping mouth. She landed in the bottom on her side and she was clutching at her heart and screaming and crying in a mixture of grief and pain; which they later found out was in part, because of her heart stopping. She fell unconscious in the well.

The next time she woke up she was greeted by the relieved faces of her friends, who told her she had been unconscious for an entire week. She was covered in sweat and every part of her body ached, but she was alive.

Despite being cut off from her family and friends in the future, she wasn't worried about them. She knew her grandfather would be able to make some conclusion as to why the Bone-Eater's Well was destroyed; or at least she hoped he would be able to. Even if he couldn't and they assumed the worst, there was no other way for anyone – Naraku included – to get to the future anymore. This thought relieved her, since her actions in the past would likely keep her family safe from Naraku and other such demons in the future.

There was always a nagging thought in the back of her mind that worried her, what if her continued presence in the past irreparably changed the future? She didn't have an answer to that question no matter how hard or long she thought on it, so she had no choice but to bury her worries deep inside herself and resolved her will and determination. She had no way of knowing what would happen to the future, so all she could do was live her life as well as she possibly could.

Even though the whole business with the Bone-Eater's Well was mostly her silver-haired companion's fault – as his rashness never left much room for thought – she had forgiven him. Although she had often wondered if that was the right choice, since afterwards he had considered himself almost faultless in her eyes.

Not long after the raven haired priestess had regained consciousness, their alpha started to secretly – but not very secretly since everyone knew – visit her predecessor; an undead priestess that was his first love. She died fifty years prior to the blue eyed woman's arrival in the past.

Normally the futuristic young woman would activate the subjugation spell that kept him in line on his return, however she found herself not really caring what he did any more. It seemed without her mother supporting her in her one sided love for the fool, she could not muster the effort required to keep up with his shifting emotions.

He was far too high maintenance. This simple sentence saddened the raven-haired woman, because it reminded her of her friends from the future. A great many things reminded her of the future she had lost and she had to constantly remind herself that she also gained a great many things since the well had been destroyed. Even if something is lost, something else is gained. One of the few phrases that is able to put her mind at ease.

The first year after the well had been destroyed the raven haired priestess concentrated on finding out more about herself and what she liked about the feudal era; she would after all, need to be able to live normally now that she was stuck there, or then. Since she no longer cared or worried about what their alpha was doing, she found that she quite liked the simple act of practising archery. She eventually decided it was time to complete her formal priestess training, since it was obvious that she was skilled at using her power and for unfathomable reasons she had been putting it off since finding out she had the power.

On the first day of the second year she made a huge bonfire in the outskirts of the village and burned all her possessions from the future. The monk and the slayer also burned all their futuristic gifts from her, but the young fox demon child – whom she considered a son – and their half-demon pack leader needed some convincing. Eventually all the objects from the future had been discarded permanently.

It had taken her a long time to muster up the determination to do this since her futuristic possessions were her only link with her time. The objects didn't and couldn't exist yet. Feudal Japan had become her time, her home, her world, and she had to protect it for the future that was yet to come. She was immensely glad she had paid attention during their travels so she didn't have to worry about any futuristic items that might have been left behind in a village or ditch.

For the rest of the year and the following three years the priestess steeled her heart and trained her mind, body and soul with the old priestess who was her friend and adviser, as well as with the demon slayer and the monk.

From the old priestess and the monk she learned about the feudal era's culture, laws, ethics, and currency. She also learned more about herbalism, medicine, curses and their cures and all other manner of important subjects. She found she rather enjoyed having the old priestess as a teacher far more than her teachers at her school in the future. The priestess's lectures were engaging and sometimes it felt more like she was watching an exciting play enacted by all her friends for her amusement.

From the demon slayer she learned about demon physiology, tracking, harvesting materials – both from beasts and the environment, survival skills, swordsmanship and various martial arts. The monk also assisted in her priestess training by showing her ways she could apply her spiritual power to her weapons and body to enhance her base physical abilities. Since humans were physically weaker than demons, these techniques allowed her to bridge the physical gap between most demons and herself.

She also decided to take up the mantle of her kin, she wore the traditional clothing of the priestesses and after she completed her training, she grew out her hair so she could wear it in the traditional style.

However the colours of her clothing made people pause, she was dressed in black and white with dark red accents. She spent a long time collecting enough money to order custom clothing from the tailors in the large trading village that was their neighbour. She could have worn her predecessor's old clothing, but she eventually decided against it. It felt wrong to her to wear her predecessor's clothing while she was still roaming the countryside as an undead abomination.

However she also had other reasons not to wear it. Not only was black clothing practical in the sense that it was easier to keep clean, it was also much easier to camouflage herself in the dark. Demon activity was much higher at night than during the day, so it made sense for her to stay as hidden as possible during that time.

She thought the priestesses of the feudal era were either very brave or very foolish to wear bright colours such as white and red. Though she suspected the uniform was designed in such a way so as to make the priestess a target in a large fight with demons and civilians. It was a way to protect innocent humans. Of course this made sense to the raven-haired priestess, but unlike her kin she was not officially affiliated with any one village, so staying hidden was a much higher priority for her.

The young woman shook her head as if to fling her thoughts away and called down to the old priestess whom was her friend, mentor and the resident of the wooden hut she was sitting on.

"Kaede I'm going to Inuyasha's Forest to pray."

"Alright Kagome, but be careful and make sure to be back before nightfall. I've heard rumours of priestesses being killed in the night." the old priestess replied from inside the small wooden hut, her voice slightly muffled through the walls.

"I'll be careful." she replied in reassurance.

The young raven haired woman, Kagome, jumped off the wooden hut and slowly made her way to the village gate. She greeted the various villagers along the way and spent a moment with each of them, blessing them with protective spells. They wanted to thank her with food as usual, so she told them to leave their gifts with Kaede since she was going into the forest. They bowed and did as she asked.

As soon as the wooden structure – which was the gate – came into view, she broke into a sprint. She made it to the edge of the forest without incident. However once she was there, she slowed her stride to a brisk walk and headed straight for the site where the Bone-Eater's Well used to reside.

Kagome emerged from the edge of the clearing moments after she entered the forest, knowing her way to her destination as if the path was painted before her. She made her way to the edge of the gaping hole in the earth that used to be the Bone-Eater's well and gazed down into it's depths. It was full of the wood that used to surround it and many weeds and fungi. The young priestess frowned slightly.

She knelt in front of the hole and offered her prayers to the gods and goddesses who oversaw time, and once again pleaded that her family was protected. She prayed in silence for a few minutes before she clapped her hands twice and pulled out an incense holder and a stick of incense from inside the sleeves of her hitoe. She lit the incense with a concentrated spark of white spiritual power on the tip of her finger and breathed in the soothing aroma for a moment.

Having completed her prayers she laid down next to the hole and gazed up at the clear midday sky. Her eyelids started to grow heavy as the sun warmed her skin and the incense calmed her mind. She didn't resist, a nap would be good for her.

* * *

When Kagome awoke again she was covered in a cold sweat and her heart was hammering against her chest as a smith might against an anvil. However her mind was blank, which meant it wasn't a nightmare that woke her. It had to have been an external disturbance, something in the forest. Most probably a demon.

The raven-haired priestess needed to meditate. She willed her racing heart to slow and her breathing soon followed as she emptied her mind and sharpened her senses.

The second time she opened her eyes she realised night had already fallen. She knew Kaede and the others would be worried, however she had to be careful making her way back. Night was a treacherous ally, hiding her, but also shielding other dangerous creatures from sight.

As she was planning her return, the raven haired priestess picked up a demonic presence near the edge of the clearing. She sent her consciousness out and analysed the demon's presence, it seemed to be waiting for something, possibly her, as there wasn't any other presence for kilometres around. It didn't seem to have noticed that she noticed it. The presence of this demon was evidently what woke her earlier.

Kagome decided to see what it would do and act accordingly. She lured it away to a familiar area, her training grounds in the forest. A place the slayer, the monk and herself train together. Kagome had grown the habit of purifying the area before and after each of their training sessions there. The purification dissuaded most demons from approaching and the fact that there was a priestess training there with spiritual powers on full display kept all but the strongest or most reckless demons away.

As soon as she stepped out of the clearing, the demon started to follow. The priestess followed invisible, but familiar paths towards an illuminated clearing. Everything the moonlight touched turned a chilling silver, only made more eerie by the slash and scorch marks on the trees and ground and the small craters in the hard-packed earth.

She stopped in the middle of her training grounds, and waited to see what the demon would do. Luring the demon was surprisingly easy, which was not a good sign. Most demons avoided priestesses, but this one was blatantly following her.

Kaede's warning flashed through her mind and she grit her teeth. _I've heard rumours of priestesses being killed in the night._

It had reached the clearing at the same time Kagome stopped, which was also when a particularly dense cloud moved in front of the moon, cutting off the source of light. She sensed the boar demon's demonic presence move forward as it stepped into the clearing. She winced slightly as a deafening roar tore from it's throat.


	2. Chapter 1 - Involvement

**Chapter 1 ~ Involvement**

Kagome expected the boar demon to make some show of superiority and wasn't surprised when it pushed its vocal cords to their limit. She waited patiently for it to finished declaring itself as an 'alpha'. Though she hadn't shifted from her relaxed stance in the middle of her training grounds. The demon's confusion was quite obvious on its face. It had let out it's mightiest roar and the human woman didn't even flinch.

She noticed an insignia engraved and painted onto the boar's steel pauldrons and Kagome realised that being nonchalant might not have been the best strategy. Only demons that are members of a noble house were permitted to bear an insignia. She didn't recognise it, so she guessed he might have been one of the lesser houses.

The demon was likely to be enraged with her regardless of its place within the demon nobility. Usually demons from a noble house have a lot of pride or a huge ego, and if they were really important within their house, both. Even if this demon was from a lesser house, he would still consider himself better than her and most other demons.

"Are you not afraid, little human?" The demon snarled as it started to slowly circle around her, she followed his every step with her eyes and spiritual senses. Only a fool would let their opponent make a movement unobserved.

"No." She answered. It was far too late to put on an act of fear by then.

As she answered, the clouds parted to reveal the crescent moon and the training grounds were once again illuminated with a cold silver light. The boar growled as he took in the damage around him, he eventually realised that the woman purposely lured him there, he was in her territory.

"Aren't you a brave little human?" He replied mockingly, though it was through grit teeth. He was evidently annoyed with her.

He looked back at the woman and was slightly puzzled as he took in her stance – she didn't have any obvious weapons like a bow or sword, but she could easily have multiple concealed weapons like a tanto blade. She had her hands in a relaxed defensive position and her stance was just as relaxed, but it was evident she was well trained. There were no obvious holes in her defence.

It was fairly obvious that this woman was a priestess, albeit a strangely dressed and trained one, but it wasn't as if priestesses hadn't deviated from the norm before. He briefly wondered if he would need to go all out against her as he grabbed the hilt of his katana and stared at her. For some unfathomable reason the priestess had closed her eyes.

He gritted his teeth when he thought she wasn't taking him seriously, however he had no idea what kind of arsenal this woman had hidden in her clothing, so he walked up to her cautiously. Once he was within striking distance of her, he unsheathed his sword and aimed to slice her in half.

The blade sung in the air as it left a silver after-image where Kagome was standing moments ago. She had back-stepped out of the way before the blade reached her, but her feet left black, charred trails along the ground, evidence that she used her powers to increase her speed and strength.

The boar was greatly surprised that a human could keep up with his speed, but he didn't want to let her get away from his blade again so he moved into his next technique quickly. The demon side-stepped and spun towards her, using the momentum and speed of the spin to strengthen his sword strike.

This time Kagome didn't dodge; she walked _into_ the attack. He stopped spinning and planted his feet as he brought the blade up from his left to strike her. Kagome enhanced her hands with her powers and followed the momentum of the blade with her hands upwards. Once its momentum was adjusted enough, she pushed it down to her left, causing the blade to get stuck in the ground with the boar still grasping it. Her hands left white trails in the air from her movements.

Now that his right ribs were exposed, she aimed her white, glowing fist into the opening before he could react. The boar screamed as her purification powers started to invade his flesh. Alarmed, he jumped away from her, abandoning the stuck blade and fell to one knee clutching at his side. He watched her with a slightly delirious expression, completely in denial about the raven haired woman's abilities.

"Woman!" He growled at her through a sneer. "Are you really a _human_ _priestess_?"

Kagome slowly moved out of her crouched position and brought both her glowing white fists up to guard. She finally opened her blue-grey eyes which had an unearthly silver look about them as her white energy glowed faintly inside them.

During the fight she summoned her powers into her eyes so that she could clearly see the demon's Qi (or Ch'i) and veins. This power could be used even with her eye lids closed, she opted to do so because visibility was very low, even with the crescent moon illuminating everything.

"Yes." She replied simply. "Why are you trying to kill me?"

She was playing on his pride, whatever reasoning he had in wanting her dead, the boar demon was certainly proud of it. Pride was easily exploited, its owner would almost always want to show off. This demon was no exception.

"The all-powerful Lord of the Western Lands," he was slightly sarcastic in his response, "Sesshomaru. I challenged his right to the Western Lands in front of his whole court. If I could bring him the heads of ten priestess before the sun rises, he would relinquish all of his lands, his house and his place as Lord of the West, to _me_!"

Kagome listened quietly as the boar started to laugh. He was obviously a fool, there was no way Sesshomaru would simply hand over his seat to some demon riff-raff just because he killed a bunch of human priestesses. It was likely the boar demon would need to go through some trial or other to prove his worth. On top of that he would need to beat Sesshomaru in a fight to the death, because she knew Inuyasha's half-brother was a prideful creature. Even his name was arrogant, _killing perfection_. Either way, there was no way the demon before her had a chance at the throne, even if he did manage to kill her.

However if she killed the boar demon there, or rather _when_ she killed it, Sesshomaru would likely be in her debt. The idea of having Sesshomaru _owe_ her, was incredibly tempting. She pointed one of her fingers at the demon and laughed aloud at him.

"Interesting!" She made her hand into a fist again, while the boar just gave her a bewildered look. "How did you get him to agree?"

The boar blinked, "with his entire court present, his honour was on the line. He had no choice but to agree, lest the other nobles think him a craven." He started laughing.

The boar rose to his feet after his mirth subsided and brought up his own fists to guard. He put one foot forwards and stopped all of a sudden. He looked at the priestess, then down to his side and held it as a snarl full of pain escaped his mouth, his heart rate increased and Kagome smirked as she watched his veins palpitate through his twitching body.

"What did you-" he started to ask but was cut off when Kagome walked to his side and grabbed his left wrist. His – now empty – sword arm.

"I didn't just punch you." She sliced off boar's wrist with her free hand, which was glowing white, and the appendage separated very cleanly, as if an oiled blade had done the job instead of her bare hand. The demon screamed as the stump started smoking and turning white. "I sent some of my spiritual powers into your body, it will continue to eat at you unless I tell it to stop."

She wasn't expecting to get any more information from the demon as her power spread further into his body. She looked down at the vile thing and almost felt sorry for it. It was just trying to better it's station. She put her palm on it's head and sent her powers inside to melt it's brain.

Steel glinted as she removed a small hidden blade from her dark red obi and got to work on hacking off the boar's tusk. Once she had her trophy in her grasp, she remembered the boar's pauldrons and removed one of them. As she was leaving, she pulled the boar demon's sword out of the ground and inspected her prize; the blade was exquisite and well maintained, so she took both it and the silver sheath with her.

The air in the clearing was halcyon all through the battle, but stirred up once Kagome stood up. The raven haired priestess took this as a sign to head back to the village. On her journey back the wind picked up in force, becoming more urgent. The air smelt like a storm, Kagome picked up her pace, hoping to outrun the rain.

She wasn't so lucky, the storm easily caught up to and overtook her.

* * *

There was a puddle of water in the front area of Kaede's hut, where Kagome had forsaken her soggy clothes in exchange for a dry, blue-green winter kimono and a warm bowl of stew. She was happily enjoying the warmth of the stew after having to answer all of her friends curious questions. Once she had shown them the tusk, katana and pauldron they stopped asking questions to inspect her prizes.

The monk was looking through a few of his scriptures trying to find out more about the insignia on the boar demon's pauldron, the slayer on the other hand was busy inspecting the blade Kagome salvaged. The difference in her friend's interests and personalities often amused Kagome. Although it was unkind, she couldn't help but express her mirth when they fought over something insignificant or petty.

It was at this moment that their alpha decided to join them. He walked in through the front door with an annoyed expression on his face and dripped water all over the wooden floors as he crouched near the fire.

"Inuyasha, you will dry off and change clothing if you wish to remain in my hut." The old priestess, Kaede, scolded their golden eyed companion as he started to flick the water off himself.

He scoffed and was about to argue until he saw Kagome's expression, she was waiting for an excuse to subjugate him. So he grudgingly accepted a dry cloth and removed both his white kosode and the Robe of the Fire Rat, but not his hakamas. While he was a very crude and rude man, he was still _mostly_ decent.

The first thing he did once he was no longer dripping all over Kaede's floor was to pick up the abandoned tusk that Kagome brought back. From a single sniff he was able to discern two distinct scents, that of the demon boar itself, and Kagome.

"What's this?" he made a rather incredulous face at Kagome as he asked her about it.

"It's my trophy." She replied with a smile. When Inuyasha still didn't understand she elaborated. "From a demon that I killed before this storm arrived. He was collecting the heads of priestesses."

"Did he tell you why?" The monk suddenly asked as he finally looked up from the scroll he was reading.

"Yes." Kagome didn't elaborate and served herself some tea. The monk frowned, but didn't push further.

"It is rather late. Now that you have all confirmed Kagome's safety with your own eyes, please return to your own sleeping arrangements." Kaede announced once Kagome finished her tea. They all stared at Kaede, as if trying to ask her if she was being serious. She was.

The four companions all stood up and Kagome hugged the slayer tightly. "Good night Sango," once she released her friend she looked at the monk and smiled "Good night Miroku."

The slayer, Sango, and the monk, Miroku, left together after telling the old priestess and the hanyou to have a good night. Inuyasha turned to Kagome before he left, as if he wanted to tell her something, but she simply nodded and told him goodnight. So he looked away and mumbled 'good night', but otherwise left without a word.

The young priestess turned to tell her mentor good night also, except the old woman beckoned her over. She went and sat with her near the fire. She looked into the old woman's wrinkly face as she waited for her to speak.

"Will you tell me why that demon was after you?"

Kagome immediately frowned, she didn't want to reveal her leverage over the Wester Lord too readily. However, she knew it would be better to tell Kaede rather than keep secrets. She was, after all, the old woman's student. Lying to your mentor never ended well. She told the old priestess everything the demon told her as well as her own speculations.

The old woman sighed and turned her wizened eyes onto her young student, "I advise you not to do anything about this."

Kagome gave the old woman a perplexed expression, "how can I not? This is a rare opportunity, I have the _Lord_ of the Western Lands in my _debt_." When the old woman didn't share her enthusiasm, Kagome waited for her to speak.

"I know that it seems like a favourable circumstance right now, however if you were to actually get the Western Lord to pay his debt to you." she paused, "the other lords will start to notice you, possibly in a bad way. Once they notice you, they will see your power, power that can kill them."

"You think the Lords would try and kill me?" she shivered when she questioned her old teacher.

"Yes, or they may try to win your favour in order to use you against the other Lords. It is a dangerous game they play. I don't want you to become part of it Kagome." Kaede put her hand on her student's shoulder affectionately and she sighed.

"I'm afraid I'm already involved Kaede. When that demon doesn't turn up at Sesshomaru's palace, he will send his soldiers to look for him. After they find his corpse they will look for his killer. Sesshomaru may even be able to revive him, I didn't immediately destroy his body." Kagome confirmed all Kaede's fears and she was sorry to leave the old woman in such a miserable state, but it was late and they needed to rest their bodies and minds.

* * *

A small, green, toad-like demon was breathlessly running though endless marble hallways. Seemingly he was lost, however the small demon was desperately looking for his master. He carried the most important report to grace his green hands in a long while. The green demon had already searched for his master in his master's study and bed chambers, the demon found it odd for his master to be in any other area in the palace as he rarely strayed from his study, the audience chamber and his personal chambers.

He was passing through the lavish palace gardens as a shortcut to the audience chamber when a young girl jumped on him. Since he was much smaller than her, she squished him and they both fell to the ground. He urgently pushed at her shoulders and she got off him when she realised he couldn't breathe.

"Rin! Where is Lord Sesshomaru?" He pressingly asked the doe-eyed young girl.

She smiled at him and dragged him to the garden entrance and pointed at their Lord sitting on a bench. The toad stared at his master in complete astonishment. He couldn't comprehend his lord's desire to be in the gardens since he had never been in them before. The gardens were there for the servants and their children, though Rin was there often enough to give every flower a nickname.

When the toad didn't budge from his spot next to Rin, the tall demon lord waved him over. The toad physically shook himself out of his stupor and grovelled at his lord's feet. The demon motioned for him to stand and the toad did so. He handed a piece of parchment to his master and waited patiently as his golden gaze read over the General's neat script.

"Have the soldiers made their return?" the demon lord's voice was low and commanding, the kind of voice that people obeyed, a ruler's voice.

"Yes, Lord Sesshomaru. They have taken the corpse to the medical ward and the head healer is looking him over right now." The toad replied as he bowed so low his forehead touched the dirt.

Sesshomaru's long silver hair swayed behind him as he rose elegantly. He told the toad to watch Rin – his ward – and left them both in the garden. His walk was brisk as he entered his palace and progressed towards the medical ward.

As soon as he entered the main healing room everyone stopped what they were doing to bow in his presence – he acknowledged them all with a small nod. He waited for the head healer to approach him with a scroll. He took the scroll and took a moment to read it.

"Where is the corpse?" he asked simply.

"This way, my lord." the healer gestured behind him and lead Sesshomaru to a small, simply furnished room.

The healer knew his lord well enough to know he wanted the corpse in a place where he could inspect it without prying eyes. The deceased boar demon was laid out on a plain table, with his severed wrist on his stomach. The healer locked the door behind them while Sesshomaru unsheathed his life-giving sword, Tenseiga.

Once his flesh touched the hilt of the sword he could see the denizens of the underworld that were taking the demon's soul to hell. He struck them down without a second thought and waited for the boar demon to be restored to life. The healer made a start as the boar took a huge breath and sat upright. It took a moment to look at its surrounding until it saw Sesshomaru, which is when it made a puzzled expression.

"Who killed you?" Sesshomaru demanded of the boar while it picked up it's severed hand.

"A priestess." the demon replied in disbelief.

The hand he was holding suddenly started smoking and was instantly reduced to ash. The purification powers still inside the flesh had finally eaten their way through it. The boar remembered that the same powers where still inside his body and he leaped from the table in fright. In doing so, he jostled his sword arm which became ash in the air. Before he could scream the healer placed his hand over the demon's mouth, he removed his hand once the lesser demon appeared to relax.

"What did this priestess look like?" The healer demanded as his lord calmly looked on, "answer me!" he exclaimed when it didn't answer immediately.

"Black hair." just those two words took a lot of effort on the dying demon's part, but had to continue when he realised that most priestesses had black hair. "Blue eyes. I think."

"You think?"

"They were glowing." That was when he remembered the peculiar colour of her powers. He took a shaking breath and clutched his ribs in pain, "He hands glowed with white powers and she was dressed completely in black."

"White powers?" the healer contemplated slowly, "you are sure?" the demon nodded.

Satisfied, Sesshomaru drew Tokijin and impaled the dying demon with it. He turned to ash around the oiled bladed. His eyes narrowed slightly, indicating that he was worried about something. White powers were unheard of, but there was a rumour that stated the purer a priestess's power was, the closer it was to white. This rumour was not proven, but dark priestess's powers were usually a very dark purple or blue, which somewhat supported the idea behind the rumour.

If the rumour was indeed true, then this priestess was even more pure than Midoriko's had been and that was very bad news for the demon world. It was common knowledge that the more pure a priestess was, the greater her hatred for demons and the more she hunted them down.

Regardless of what the truth was, she was powerful and when the other three Lords were to find out about her existence, they would be sure to look for her. She had the potential to become a very huge threat to any of the four lands, especially if her hatred turned out to be superficial and she could be convinced to join one of the other Lords. He needed to find her before the other Lords learned of her existence.

"Tell General Yin of what transpired here," Sesshomaru ordered the healer, "then tell him to find me in my study. Let no others know of what was spoken here."

"Yes my Lord." The healer bowed low as the tall demon lord silently exited the room.

* * *

The sun had yet to rise above the horizon, however the two priestesses of Kaede's village were awake and kneeling at a small wooden shrine on a rise behind the older priestess's hut. They were praying for prosperity for the village, while simultaneously adding strength to the spiritual barrier protecting the village. They were not finished until the sun had risen to a hight that meant it was late morning.

They descended to the village and walked in silence to the centre of the village where breakfast was being served to everyone. Today Sango and Miroku were cooking with the other villagers. At the sight of the two priestesses, the head cook waved them over and handed them each a wooden bowl with a hearty and meaty stew inside it.

The priestesses thanked the cooks and separated from one another with smiles on their faces. Kaede stayed to speak with the villagers, however Kagome went over to sit with a small fox demon. She hugged him until he complained that he couldn't breath.

"Have you gotten taller Shippo?" She asked him suddenly. The orange-headed demon grinned proudly and puffed out his chest.

"You noticed!" He exclaimed in glee, using an affectionate voice when replying.

Kagome had adopted Shippo many years ago, but he didn't want her to think she was a replacement for his birth mother, so he still didn't address her as his mother. She thought back to when the demon was small enough to ride on her shoulder, however that was no longer possible as he had grown and was now as tall as her shoulders.

"Of course I did." She laughed and ruffled his hair. They sat down next to each other and proceeded to have a conversation about Shippo's progress in mastering his demonic powers.

Once all the cooking was completed, the perverted monk, Miroku, walked over to Kagome with a bright red hand-print on his face. Evidence that no time was too early to fondle his beloved Sango. He sat next to the priestess and sighed.

She could only laugh at her friend as he went through the same situation all the time. They sat together in silence as they ate their breakfast. Finally when Shippo was finished eating, he planted a big kiss on Kagome's cheek and raced after the other young children of the village. She smiled as she watched him race off with his friends.

"Miroku?" Kagome finally enquired when they were alone.

"Yes Kagome?"

"Can we study the demon nobility again? I need to refresh my memory." He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, certain that her interest in the nobility had something to do with the demon she killed the previous night. However he knew that she would only speak to him about it when she was ready.

"Of course, Kagome." he replied with a smile. "Meet me outside Kaede's hut after breakfast has been cleaned up." He waited till she nodded before he went to join the other cooks in cleaning.

They were finished within the hour and Miroku found Kagome inside Kaede's hut reading some very old scrolls. Kaede herself was organising her harvesting tools, she intended to look for medicinal herbs in Inuyasha's forest. Kagome was not really reading the scroll clutched tightly in her hands because she kept worriedly glancing at her mentor.

"Do not fret child," she caressed Kagome's head affectionately. Kagome reacted much like a feline and smiled into the old woman's touch. "I will have Inuyasha and Shippo accompany me."

"See if you can convince Inuyasha to teach my Shippo about his abilities. He needs a teacher, since I'm not a demon I can't teach him what his parents would." Kaede nodded with a smile, a silent promise that she would convince the hanyou as best she could.

Miroku bowed to the old woman when she left, then walked over to her collection of scriptures. He carefully searched through them until he found the ones he was looking for. He brought the scriptures over to Kagome, who was putting out the fire and opening the wooden window shutters.

Once she was done they sat down next to each other in the window's light and started to read the scriptures together,.

"Tell me what you remember." He prompted her by handing her a map of Japan.

"The land is essentially split into five lands." When Miroku nodded she continued. "North, South, East, West and the Central lands." Her fingers hovered over each of the designated areas on the map in front of them.

"Yes, although only the four outer lands have Lords and are collectively referred to as the Factions. However the Central Lands continue to be the largest territory within the country." Kagome nodded as Miroku spoke.

"Explain to me again, why the Central lands don't have a ruler?"

"The Central lands were always inhabited by humans. The demons rulers were never interested in the human lands, since they believed humans were inferior to demons. They felt that the humans had defiled the land with their continued presence somehow. On top of that, many locations in the Central Lands have been blessed or warded against demons and these locations are quite large." He told her as he unbound another scroll talking about the Central lands. "So of course, the Central lands don't receive any protection from the demon nobility.

"Eventually the Shogun, his Daimyo and their Samurai came to power. However rather than protecting their lands from the lawless demons, they often warred amongst themselves. So they have no choice but to hire priestesses, priests, monks and demon slayers – who specialise in killing or expelling demons – to protect themselves and the villages from lawless demons.

"Since the conception of priestesses, priests, monks and demon slayers, the noble demons have looked down upon the Central lands even more. Only humans that have abandoned such hatred towards demons can be allowed into any of the outer lands, otherwise they will be killed on sight." He became very serious once he finished his sentence, making sure to have the information sink in. He was sure Kagome was going to explore around the boarder to the Western Lands, the closest lands to the village.

"Either one of us would receive a punishment worse than death." He added just for good measure.

"Because I'm a priestess and you a monk. Without exceptions?" He nodded and Kagome sighed.

"You weren't thinking of going. Were you?" when she smiled sheepishly, he frowned at her. "Do you _want_ to get killed?"

"I'm pretty sure I would be able to get out of the situation." she stared at the Western Lands on the map.

"Don't think you're safe just because Lord Sesshomaru hasn't outright killed us before. In his own lands he is expected to remove 'the filth', he never saw any reason to kill us before since we're only interested in killing Naraku. Of course we're never stepped foot into any of the four factions' lands either, but that's beside the point." He couldn't stress enough how unsafe those lands were. He looked at Kagome and kept pressuring her until she said she wouldn't go into the outer lands.

"Will you help me find out which of the lesser houses this insignia belongs to?" She asked quietly after a long period of tense silence.

"Tell me about the houses in the Factions first." he prompted in response.

Kagome laughed out loud as her friend did his best to mentor her, "the lesser demons houses are the lowest of the demon houses. Above them is the Royal house," she paused for a moment, suddenly unsure.

Miroku sighed and continued for her, "the Royal houses rule the Faction lands, but the lesser houses do not come next, first there are the higher houses, after come the lesser houses and finally are the human houses." He gestured to Kagome to continue, confident that she knew the rest.

She nodded in understanding "the human houses govern the humans in the demons lands. The lesser houses govern the lesser demons and the humans houses in the lands, they are also called upon as soldiers for the various armies in the land. The higher houses govern over the lesser houses and take care of all the affairs of the lands as is commanded by their Lord. The Royal house is comprised of the Lord, his mate, his children and all of their extended family. The extended family are powerful nobles by association.

"The royal army is mostly composed of men and women from the higher and lesser houses, they can also take the positions of General, but only members of a higher house can become a General, because they have to report directly to the Lord. The Royal family doesn't actually do a lot, aside from the Lord, who governs over all the houses and keeps the peace. He has the most work, but the Royal family often hold festivals, or other events to bring trade to the land and appease the people. " She scratched her head when she was finished, sure that she had forgotten something, so she looked at her friend.

He smiled, "you also forgot that if the Lord has children other than the heir, the younger children have the option of joining the army and rising to General, becoming a scholar and therefore advisor to the next Lord or taking a position in the Lord's court. Or something else entirely. There is also the fact that children of the lesser houses are used as messengers until they come of age. At which point they can join the army or prosper within their own house.

"One other important thing is that the Northern Lord is referred to as the High Lord. This is because of a sacred law from thousands of years ago that the current and future Lords follow. The law decrees that the High Lord is chosen from _any_ of the demon houses in the northern lands by the other three Faction Lords.

"They usually choose a demon with a very high sense of justice, honour and a sense of duty. They have to be careful to choose someone who will remain neutral and just in any conflict and will not become a tyrant who rules over them with strength and dirty tricks."

"What do you mean?"

"The Northern Lord is more politically powerful than any one of the other lords. The Northern lands are huge and much more prosperous than the other Factions, almost as large as the Central lands. By allowing the three lords to choose someone together they are able to keep a peaceful balance between them. It also allows them to completely ignore the nobles that might have their own agenda and choose a Lord that will serve his people wholly and truthfully."

"How do they choose?"

"Apparently there is a ritual. There aren't any details recorded, at least in any place a common person can get their hands on it. However I know this much, the ritual imbues the Northern Family with power. Its called the essence of the North and only the three Royal Families of the South, East and West can bestow it upon someone. That person becomes the High Lord."

"So what happens if he does become a tyrant?" Kagome asked in genuine curiosity.

"Combined, the other three Faction Lords have more political and demonic power than the Northern Lord and when they come together, they can remove the Northern Royal Family from power. However they all have to agree and use the old rituals to seal the power of his throne. Although nobody but the three Lords know exactly what that entails. There are rumours that this ritual turns the Northern family into humans, or that it seals them in crystal, or that it curses them. Either way, its the only way to forcefully dethrone the High Lord of the North." Miroku elaborated.

"Has it ever happened before?"

"Once, a very long time ago, but the writings of that time are vague and many scrolls and scriptures have been lost. There was a great war that ended in many deaths and the royal families were cut down to half their original size. This was before Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's father took the Western throne. I suspect it was during his father's or grandfather's rule." Kagome nodded.

Once Miroku was satisfied Kagome's knowledge of the demon lands was sufficiently refreshed, he helped her look for the insignia from the boar's house.


	3. Chapter 2 - Abscond

**Chapter 2 ~ Abscond**

A small grey wolf raced through a dense wood as it tracked the scent of it's target. It had a small scroll tied to its powerful front leg. It made a small yip of excitement as it neared it's target and slowed to a stop once it reached its destination. The wolf's target was the General of the second regiment, General Yin of the Western Lands.

As soon as the wolf reached him, it yapped in excitement and circled his legs three times. The brown-haired, humanoid-demon pet the wolf's head and untied the scroll from it's leg. He opened it and read the orders Lord Sesshomaru of the West had sent them. Once he finished reading, he ordered his men to file in.

He told them of Lord Sesshomaru's orders: to find the boar demon's killer; a priestess with black hair, blue eyes and white powers. She had possession of one of the boar's pauldrons, his sword and one of his tusks. She would be dressed entirely in black clothing. Lord Sesshomaru's orders were to not kill this priestess under any circumstances. His men spoke to each other in alarmed voices when he finished speaking. One of his men broke formation and waited for permission to speak. The General allowed him to.

"Why wont Lord Sesshomaru allow you to avenge your brother, sir?"

"My brother was a fool. His quest was destined to fail. I hold no hatred for this priestess and only desire to do as Lord Sesshomaru has ordered, as should you." He replied quickly.

General Yin was somewhat impressed that the priestess was able to kill his brother. While he was not good enough to rise the ranks and become a General, he was still a skilled and powerful swordsman.

He ordered his two scouts to head towards any neighbouring villages on the way to their destination – a village that the west often traded with – and find out any information about the priestess. While he hated relying on rumours and twisted lies, he had no real choice. There was no other way for them to locate the priestess since his brother's corpse had turned to ash. There were no scents in the ash, nor did it contain an aura and there wasn't any leftover energy in the ash. No scents or energy means there is nothing for them to track.

In the early afternoon, the scouts returned to the main group at the gates to the trading village. General Yin was paying the village elder for lodgings. They were only let inside the village once the treasurer confirmed the amount. They headed to their rooms in the guest hut. The scouts waited patiently while the General had organised his supplies before they gave him their report.

They told him about the village closest to 'Inuyasha's Forest,' this village had two priestesses, an older one and her student. There were also rumours of a human monk, human demon slayer, half-demon, cat demon and fox demon child calling this village home.

The General though it was odd for there to be a half demon – let alone two full demons – in a village full of so many anti-demon humans. He ordered the scouts to go to this village and be very careful. However the scouts only confused him more when they said that there were rumours of the anti-demon humans of this village to be very tolerant of most demons.

"That's impossible. Humans that train to kill demons cannot have any love for demons." General Yin exclaimed in complete incredulously.

"The rumours say that these humans have a target. A half-demon called Naraku." The scouts replied.

"Naraku? Why does that name sound so familiar?" General Yin scratched his stubble covered-chin in thought as he waved the scouts out.

* * *

The sun was starting its slow decent back to the horizon when Kagome finally found the house of the insignia she was researching. She grabbed the scroll she was reading as she rushed out of the hut in search of Miroku, who had left earlier to spend some time with his beloved demon-slayer.

She found him on the way back to Kaede's hut with a bright red hand print on his cheek. She took a moment to giggle at his predicament, before she handed the scroll to him with a splitting grin on her face. She waited for him to open it before she pointed at the house she found. It was a higher house of the Western Lands. Miroku read the name of the house and its standing in the western lands – then stared at his beaming friend – unable to understand her glee.

"Kagome, you do realise this is very bad news. If word gets back to this house that you killed one of their sons," he cut off his sentence, unwilling to continue the thought.

"Don't fret Miroku. I made sure to leave my powers active in his body. By the time they find him, he will have purified into a pile of ash." She put her hand on his shoulder and retrieved the scroll from him. "By then, my energy and scent will have left his body to join the energy in the earth and the air. They will have no way to track me."

She didn't tell him that Sesshomaru had most probably already found the corpse, as it would take days for it to completely purify if left undisturbed. She also didn't tell him anything the demon said to her. She didn't want to worry him, or put him in any more danger than she already had.

This was the position Shippo found them in and couldn't help but want to break the tension. He jumped onto Miroku's back and covered his eyes, yelling 'guess who!' Miroku nearly fell over when he did, Shippo wasn't small any more.

"Shippo, how many times have I told you. You can't jump on people like you used to, you've grown too much." Kagome told him with her hands on her hips.

"Sorry Miroku," he apologised quietly as he got up from Miroku and helped him to his feet. Miroku forgave him and ruffled his hair.

"Is Kaede back?" Kagome asked once her adoptive son was forgiven. Shippo nodded with a smile and grabbed Kagome's hand.

"The villagers made dinner again. She told me to come get you." the young priestess followed the hyper-active fox demon while the perverted monk followed behind them with a small smile. Ever since Inuyasha had calmed down and joined the hunting group, the village always had too much food to store away properly.

Once they reached the centre of the village, Kagome asked her son, "Did Inuyasha teach you anything today?"

"He did! He was probably just bored though." he grinned at her, but quickly grew serious as he added, "be careful with him tonight. He looks like he might explode if anyone annoys him enough."

"I promise not to agitate him, but if worse comes to worse, I can always subjugate him." She smiled as she reassured her son. He nodded, satisfied, and ran ahead.

The night was full of laughter and music as everyone in the village made a festival of the dinner. A large bonfire was lit and the villagers danced around it in glee. More than once the young men of the village asked Kagome to join then, but they gave up when Inuyasha growled and glared at them. Kagome had no choice but to politely decline their invitations so as not to agitate the silver-haired alpha.

It was possibly because of the rowdy festivities, that neither Kagome or Kaede sensed intruders in the village until they were nearly on top of them. Kagome immediately shot up and sprinted over to Kaede. She stared at the old woman in panic as she realised the intruders simply walked through their barriers unharmed.

"I don't sense any blood-lust from them." Kaede whispered and placed a reassuring hand on Kagome's shoulder.

"They are definitely demons." Kagome was puzzled. She closed her eyes and drew her powers into them. She could see the intruders' qi only a hut away from them. Kagome opened her eyes and released her powers. "How can they not have any blood-lust? Surely they've heard that you, Sango, Miroku and I live here."

Kaede waited in silence for the demons to come within view. The festivities slowly stopped as the other villagers noticed them. They quietly whispered to each other as the demons walked into their line of sight, but nobody attacked the intruders, verbally or otherwise. The silence surprised the strangers, as did the apparent calmness of the villagers. There was no fear in their eyes, just curiosity and a small amount of alarm.

They stopped approaching and observed the humans. Kaede went to greet them.

Kagome watched with baited breath, not quite able to hear their conversation. Suddenly Kaede turned and gestured for her to come. Kagome obeyed her mentor's orders and walked over to her. She silently eyed up the demons while she waited for someone to speak. She had already noticed the Royal Army of the West's insignia on their armour.

"We are looking for a priestess that matches your description." The guard to Kagome's left stated as he gestured to her.

"What for?" Kagome asked.

The scouts glanced at each other briefly, "We're under orders to retrieve a priestess with black hair, blue eyes, who dresses entirely in black. Apparently her purification powers are white." They glanced at Kagome again, her appearance matched the description. Though they had no way of knowing if her powers really were white or not.

Kaede stepped between the scouts and Kagome and stared the scouts down. They stared back at her and waited for her to say her piece.

"My disciple doesn't have white powers, nor does any priestess I have heard of." Then she glared at them. "I must ask you to leave, your presence here is disturbing my people."

"Of course." The scouts turned to leave. "Our general will be here tomorrow to question your disciple."

Nobody spoke as they left.

Kagome stared after them, curious as to why they didn't just capture her and take her to their General. She was violently shaken out of her daze by Inuyasha. He grabbed her shoulders, spun her around and literally shook her. She slapped his hands away with power in her fingers.

He paid no mind to the slight sling on the back of his hands and growled at her. "Why were Sesshomaru's soldiers looking for you?"

She didn't respond for a good long while as she weighed the pros and cons of telling him the truth. He growled lowly at her while she made up her mind, finally she decided it was better to be somewhat truthful now than lie completely and have it slap her in the face later on.

"The demon I killed yesterday was a member of a higher house of the West." She finally told him, "I suppose it has something to do with that."

"Are you fucking insane?!" He yelled in her face. "Why the hell are you making an enemy of Sesshomaru?! Do you _want_ to be killed?!"

Kagome just sighed at his antics and was about to open her mouth to reply when Inuyasha grabbed her shoulders and started shaking her again. "If you die, who the fuck is going to search for the jewel shards? Think about that for a second before you go off and do stupid shit."

"Stop treating me like a jewel detector!" Kagome yelled back at him.

"Shut up." He tightened his grip on her shoulders, "we're leaving tomorrow. You better be ready to go, or I'm just going to drag you. Stupid wench."

As soon as the last word left his mouth Inuyasha was already face down in the ground. Kagome yelled out the subjugation word three more times before turning her back on the half-demon. She walked over to Kaede and watched as her alpha picked himself up from the ground and angrily stormed off.

Kaede grasped Kagome's hands between her rough ones, and told her something she never expected her or anyone to say, "Inuyasha is right."

"What?" Kagome frowned, slightly upset that she would take his side over hers.

"While he was brash and rude in his delivery. He was right. You need to get away from this village before the General comes." Kagome stared at her mentor.

"I do not want you to get involved in demon politics any more than you already are. You need to leave the village and complete your original objective. Complete the jewel and purify it. To do that, you need to defeat Naraku." She gave Kagome a pointed look. "You cannot do that while being hunted down by demon lords."

A variety of expressions passed over Kagome's face before she finally settled on acceptance. Kaede was right. As much as she wanted to gloat and put Sesshomaru in her debt. That was ignoring the bigger picture, defeating Naraku and completing the jewel. She could always get involved in the demon world _after_ saving it.

Kagome rushed off to find Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kirara. She told them to start packing immediately. She wanted to leave the village while it was still dark. Her companions nodded without question and each rushed in a different direction. They had witnessed the exchange between Kagome and Inuyasha as did the rest of the village.

Kagome herself had run to Kaede's hut where she found the old woman packing dried herbs and vials of oil for her journey. She grabbed her spare clothing which was identical to what she was currently wearing: white kosode, black hitoe with red sode-kukuri – cords – woven through the sleeves, black hakamas and a dark red obi.

She also grabbed a black haori in case it grew colder and she needed the extra layer, the fabric was dusted with red at the bottom. She tied and pinned up her hair into a simple bun and skewered it with a silver pin, the pin was not only decorative, but it turned black in the presence of poison. It was the most expensive item she owned.

Kagome grabbed her travelling bag – a brown fabric side-bag – and started to pack food for the journey. She grabbed salted meats wrapped in reed and two pouches of millet, but Kaede stopped her hand before she could grab more millet. She handed her a pouch and bid her open it. Inside there was rice.

Kagome was shocked, rice was so very expensive in the central lands, especially for their village that didn't have any rice fields within safe travelling distance.

"Are you sure?" Kagome asked, worried.

"The village has plenty of food to last through the coming winter, thanks to Inuyasha. I am worried that you might not be able to procure as much food while travelling." The old woman smiled at her student and took the pouch of rice, closed it and put it in Kagome's bag. Effectively silencing any protest the young woman might have had.

Kagome took the collection of medicinal supplies Kaede had gathered for her and placed it in her bag. She grabbed her spare clothing and also placed it inside her bag. Once she was satisfied with her pack, she hugged her old teacher and went looking for her wooden bow and arrows.

She found them next to the stables and slung them over her back. Kaede walked up to her and handed Kagome her pack. She slung it over her other shoulder and hugged the old woman once again.

"One more thing before you leave Kagome." the old woman held her hand and took her deep into the stables.

"What is it Kaede?" she quietly watched as the old woman unearthed an old wooden box from under the floorboards. She gently opened the box and took out various pieces of black and red armour.

"Kikyo used this armour many years ago when she was protecting the Sacred Jewel. I also used it when I was called to war. Now I pass it on to you."

"What? Are you sure?" Kagome asked as she put down her pack and weapons.

"Yes. Now turn around. Sango will have to show you how to put it on later. For now I will help you." Kagome did as she was bid and allowed the old woman to tie the dark breastplate around her torso. She also tied a single two-layered pauldron over her right shoulder. After she was done, she handed her the two black armoured boots and a pair of black vambraces. Kagome obediently put the armoured boots and vambraces on. The breastplate was lined on the inside with flexible brown leather and each piece of armour was lined with a strip of silver cord around the edges.

"How does it feel?" Kaede asked as she inspected each knot.

"Lighter than I thought it would." Kagome stretched and shifted around, testing her reach.

"Not too tight?"

"No, its perfect." the blue-eyed woman smiled and wanted to hug the old woman again, but realised that was too difficult in her current attire. "Thank you Kaede."

"I only wish I could do more to help you child."

"You're already done so much for me." they both smiled at each other before the old woman shooed Kagome out of the stables.

The black-haired priestess quickly turned away from the old woman before she could get even more flustered and sappy. She hurried off to find her companions and soon found Sango and Shippo with Kirara at the village gates. They were packed and ready to leave.

"Nice armour Kagome." Sango commented as she took in her friend's new attire.

"A gift from Kaede." Sango nodded and handed Kagome the sword she had taken from the boar demon she killed. Kagome stared at the sword for a moment and thought about how she would attach it to her armour.

"This is a gift from me." Sango replied as she held a white and blue sash in her outstretched hand. Kagome gingerly took the material from her best friend and stared at it for a long while.

"This is silk!" Kagome exclaimed when she realised what the luxurious fabric in her hand was. "I can't take it, its worth so much."

"Oh shush." Sango grabbed the sash from her hand and deftly tied it around Kagome's armoured waist. She expertly hung the silver sheath through the sash and smiled as she inspected her handy-work. "Silk is a fabric that is as strong as steel. This is one of the reasons why its so expensive, but also why its perfect for someone on a battlefield."

"Sango-" Kagome started to complain, but the slayer quickly cut her off.

"No complaints. What do you think the fabric on my own armour is? Besides, I think it looks good on you."

"I agree!" Shippo added as he grabbed Kagome's hand. "You look like a warrior now."

"A warrior?"

"Good disguise for a priestess in hiding, don't you think?" Sango smiled.

"Yes." Kagome smiled at her friends and nodded her head in affirmation. She knew from Miroku and Kaede's lessons that most priestesses had abandoned armour in recent decades. They favoured the speed and manoeuvrability that came from not wearing any.

However the armour suited Kagome's purposes and new fighting style, so she was very glad to have it. Besides, it was very light-weight and comfortable. She barely even noticed she was wearing it, though this was likely thanks to her increased physical strength compared to most priestesses.

Finally Miroku appeared from the village and they were ready to grab their grumpy alpha. The group left the village gates and headed straight for the god-tree in 'Inuyasha's forest.' Their walk was quiet and uneventful.

Inuyasha was asleep on top of one of the giant tree's roots. He was snoring peacefully, Kagome didn't want to wake him up. Almost.

With a slight smile, she whispered the subjugation word under her breath.

The hanyou yelped in surprise as he was immediately and without warning pulled towards the ground. He let loose a string of curses as he picked himself up from the ground and brushed the dirt off his clothing. He was just about to yell at the priestess, but he was stunned when he saw the whole group there, packed and ready to leave.

"Finally decided to get off your asses then." Inuyasha spat and glared at Kagome. Though the sentence contained less venom than usual because he was slightly surprised by the new additions to her attire.

"Lets go find Naraku." Kagome paused and gestured for Inuyasha to lead. When he didn't immediately move she spoke again, "–what? Can't you smell him? Isn't that why you acted so rudely towards me a few hours ago?"

Inuyasha had no reply for the priestess and simply grumbled. Kagome waved at her companions to follow her and they walked right past Inuyasha. He stared at the ground for a few minutes, simply sulking. He didn't want to admit he was wrong, and he didn't want to apologise. Finally he sped off after the group. Once he caught up, he quietly walked behind them.

Kagome glanced behind them at her alpha once and continued to lead the group out of 'Inuyasha's forest' in silence. As soon as they reached the edge of the forest, a path emerged that they could follow in a north-easterly direction, deeper into the central lands.

They kept moving through the rest of the night and the next day and didn't stop until the second night fell. They moved into the forest next to the pathway – to use the trees as cover – and set up camp. Sango grabbed firewood and set up a camp fire. Shippo lit it with his fox-fire once it was complete.

Meanwhile Kagome was erecting a sensing barrier around the camp and Miroku was placing ofuda to ward off low level demons. Inuyasha jumped into a tree and stared up at the stars. He was completely silent, which made the group's jobs easier. He could barely tear his eyes away from Kagome, her new attire irked him in ways he didn't fully understand.

"Why the hell is she even wearing that junk?" he whispered under his breath. Nothing answered him, the question was directed to himself anyway.

Kagome handed a pouch full of millet to Sango as Shippo use his fox magic to enlarge a small pot they could use to cook it in. Kagome sighed as she filled the pot with water from her pouch. She was dismayed that they didn't come across any water during the day.

"I swear the river was around here." Kagome whispered to herself barely loud enough for Sango to hear, though she was sitting right next to her.

"Its close by, I'm sure of it." Shippo added as he laid his head on Kagome's thigh. She smiled at him and continued to eat her dinner, careful not to drop any on his head.

"We haven't left the village in quite a while, so you probably don't remember the exact distance that well. I know I can't." Sango reassured her.

"I didn't even know there _was_ a river out here." Miroku remarked and his three companions giggled at him.

"Funny considering you spend more of your time looking at maps than anyone else in the village." Shippo teased.

"Its one thing to read a map and quite another to apply that knowledge to the landscape around you." he replied solemnly in an attempt to save face.

"You're not wrong, but I'm better at finding my way with a map. My memory isn't so good that I know every part of these lands by heart." Kagome agreed with him, then continued, "even at home, I'd have trouble finding my way around Tokyo without GPS."

"Gepees? What's that?" Shippo asked and Kagome just laughed at his response.

"Its something than can tell you exactly where you are in the world as well as show you the fastest path to your destination."

"Sounds like divination magic." Miroku commented as he thought deeply.

"Its a bit faster than that." Kagome laughed again.

Everyone, bar Inuyasha – who didn't come down from his tree – finished their dinner in silent company, satisfied smiles on their faces. Kagome wanted to feed their stubborn alpha, but she didn't really want to talk to him. So she left his share in the pot.

Sango helped Kagome out of her armour and took a few minutes to show her how she could remove and put it back on herself. Once Kagome completely understood the intricacies of her new armour, she gently placed it next to her bag and went to sleep.


	4. Chapter 3 - Pursuit

**Chapter 3 ~ Pursuit**

The scouts reached General Yin just before dawn and gave him their report about the priestess's village. He was suspicious of the old priestess's actions, but she likely hated and mistrusted demons as all of her kin did. After hearing the scout's description of the old woman's disciple, he was sure she was the woman they were looking for. He ordered the scouts to get ready for departure. They left to relay the orders to the other soldiers.

They left the village quickly with nary a kind word or gesture. It was obvious that the villagers were wary of them, even if they did provide them lodgings.

They reached the priestess's village before the noon sun and were greeted at the village gates by Kaede.

"I'm so very sorry about what has happened." She bowed low to the General and offered her apologies.

"What are you apologising for?" General Yin was very shocked by her sincerity, but he had no idea what she was talking about.

"My disciple is no longer here." Kaede explained.

"Where is she?" He asked as his eyebrows narrowed in suspicion.

"She left in the middle of the night, it must have been after your soldiers left." She shook her head apologetically.

"Why did she run?"

"I believe she was afraid. My disciple has always been a coward. I've spent many years trying to change that about her." She frowned. "No such luck, she always finds some way to avoid battle. Despite it being her duty as a priestess."

"Fine, I believe you. We'll find her." The general quickly left the village, not wanting to be near the old priestess any longer than necessary.

Outside the village he gestured for his scouts to come closer, "did she look like a coward to you?"

"No Sir. She looked strong-willed and stubborn."

"Then the old priestess lied to us to protect her."

"What do you want us to do, sir?

"Nothing for now. Priestesses are known to protect their own. I somewhat expected this outcome." He was torn between tracking her down again or returning to the Western Palace and making his report. They didn't have reliable maps of the Central Lands beyond the immediate borders of the Faction Lands. If she had fled further inland, they would be at a great disadvantage.

He eventually decided to return to the Western Palace and ordered his soldiers to do the same. On the way there, he thought about his dead brother, Lord Sesshomaru and the mysterious priestess. He could understand her desire to flee. However, he was sure Lord Sesshomaru merely wanted to speak with her and erase his debt to her.

Lord Sesshomaru was one of the most honourable demons General Yin had ever had the pleasure to serve and he knew how much it bothered his lord to be in debt to someone. However being in debt to a priestess was unheard of and he was slightly worried his lord might kill the woman after he repaid her. It was what the other noble demons expected of him after all.

Unless his brother was foolish enough to brag to the priestess he planned to kill, he was sure the priestess was running in fear for her life. She killed a member of a higher house, a deed worthy of the death penalty, even more so since she was a priestess. He believed the old priestess told her disciple to run, it seemed as if she was desperate to protect her student.

* * *

Kagome woke and got everyone ready for departure early the next morning, before the sun had risen. She made sure to carefully cover their tracks by purifying their scents; however she did so without her companions' knowledge. She didn't want to worry them, they had enough to think about without her piling more worries on them.

So she silently got onto Kirara's back, behind Sango and held onto her best friend's waist tightly. The trip out of the forest was uneventful and quiet. That quickly changed when Inuyasha got everyone's attention and almost demanded that they listen to him.

They were all on the ground now, in a rough circle and looking at their alpha expectantly.

"Find the shards Kagome." Kagome raised an eyebrow at him, but decided not to argue, as finding the shards was one of the reasons they left the village.

She closed her eyes and extended her senses across the Central Lands. Some places were blocked from her view, or simply too far away for her to sense clearly, but from what she could see, Naraku's shard was nowhere.

"I can't find Naraku's shard." She opened her eyes just in time to see her alpha reach over and grab her unarmoured upper arms roughly. He shook her as he yelled in her face and Kagome couldn't help the sudden revulsion that settled in her gut.

"What the fuck do you mean you can't find it?!" His curse word echoed loudly in the dark haired priestess's mind and made Kagome aware that he was very angry this time.

"Inuyasha please calm down. Nobody is powerful enough to find Naraku's shard when he's hidden inside his miasma, not even Kagome. Besides, he's likely still recovering from that battle five years ago." Miroku spoke reason to Inuyasha and gently got him to release his death-grip on Kagome's arms.

"Miroku is right. Naraku hasn't even sent his minions after us in so long." Sango agreed and quickly inspected Kagome's arms. The slayer gently smiled at the silent woman when she realised she was fine.

"Maybe he's already dead." Shippo commented with a light-hearted grin. Kagome smiled at him, he was always optimistic.

Inuyasha spun around and continued back down the path, due North-East, but not before he growled a few more choice words at her. Kagome was used to the string of verbal abuse from her alpha, she only continued to put up with him because he was strong and she needed that strength to defeat Naraku.

Or at least, that was what she continued to tell herself as she suppressed her deepest desires to purify her alpha a little bit. He was beginning to become more tiresome to deal with, especially after he had reconnected with the undead priestess.

About an hour after the sun set, Miroku was finally able to calm the hanyou down enough to get him to agree to making camp for the day. They found a fairly well shrouded clearing and set up. Miroku started to place warding talismans around the perimeter of the camp, while Kagome sat in the middle with her eyes closed and erected a new detection barrier. Sango, Shippo and Kirara left to find firewood and Inuyasha found a nice tree to perch in as he grumbled and muttered to himself.

They ate a silent dinner of dried meats and the rest of the cheese and bread. Kagome was worried they would need to trade or hunt for food soon. She wasn't sure how she was going to convince Inuyasha to hunt. She continued to think about it as she removed her armour and didn't stop thinking about it till she fell into a light asleep.

* * *

Kagome was awoken by the detection barrier. It was a complex enough spell that it could tell her who passed its threshold, at what time and in which direction they went. Inuyasha was the one who activated the barrier when he left a few seconds before Kagome woke up.

He only ever left them in the middle of the night to see Kagome's undead predecessor. She thought about her predecessor carefully. She didn't want the dead woman to try to kill Inuyasha and drag him down to hell again, so she woke the others.

"Follow me quietly." She held her finger up over her lips to indicate her friends should be silent.

"What's going on?" Shippo whispered.

"Inuyasha left to find Kikyo." they all silently frowned, "I just want to make sure she doesn't try to kill him again. We still need him after-all."

Shippo and Kirara led the humans to Inuyasha and Kikyo's meeting place with their noses. They were inside a ring of dead trees, standing across from each other.

Kagome was too far to hear what was said, so she decided to risk it and revealed herself. Kikyo and Inuyasha were silent as they watched Kagome walk up to them. They formed a triangle with each of them standing at equal distance from the other two.

Kagome acknowledged Kikyo with a slight nod, but the undead priestess didn't return the gesture and instead directed a pointed glare at the armour Kagome was wearing. Of course Kikyo would recognise her own armour. However she didn't say anything about it, Kaede was free to do with it what she wanted.

A terse silence followed for a few minutes while the three of them analysed each other. Or rather while Kagome and Kikyo analysed each other and Inuyasha stood to the side with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

Kagome thought about what Kikyo wanted, revenge for her untimely death. At first this was directed at Inuyasha, but they now knew that it was Naraku that had tricked the two lovers into attacking each other. However Kikyo's hatred had only slightly faded, not disappeared completely. This was likely because Kikyo was a clay collection of souls and a shell of her former self. She only held a very small part of Kagome's soul and that only afforded her a fraction of her former power and abilities.

On top of that, her personality was slightly fragmented – likely a result of how many other souls she had absorbed over the years – and hatred was the only emotion she held onto for a particularly long time. So of course she could not forget her initial misguided hatred towards Inuyasha, whom she thought had betrayed her.

Kagome wondered if she could convince the dead priestess to help them kill Naraku. Either way Kikyo couldn't remain in the mortal plane for too much longer and Kagome needed to regain the fragment of her soul that was sustaining the undead woman.

"Kikyo, what do you think about an alliance?" Kagome watched the dead priestess's reaction carefully.

"To kill Naraku?" Kikyo smirked at her reincarnation, "How very clever of you." Inuyasha was stunned, he never expected those words to come from Kagome. Though he knew she was not a vindictive woman, he also knew that he hurt her when he chose Kikyo over her, so he was expecting Kagome to just ignore Kikyo.

All he could do was watch the two women with a slightly surprised expression on his face. He wanted to speak, but the silence between them was deafening. Kagome would not speak until she had an answer from Kikyo, who was standing there with her eyes closed and a faint smile on her face.

"What are your terms?" She opened her brown eyes and asked after a long silence.

"The goal of the alliance is to kill Naraku. However I will receive all the shards and complete the Sacred Jewel. I will purify it and complete my mission." Kagome replied quickly. She had thought about forming an alliance with Kikyo for a long time.

"What do I get out of this?" she looked unsatisfied.

"Revenge." Kikyo stared at her, only slightly convinced. She still thought she could kill the evil half demon on her own, despite trying and failing to do so many times in the past. However Kagome was not finished and added, "and eternal rest."

The undead priestess was blind-sided and she souls shifted uncomfortably inside her at Kagome's words. She never expected such bold words from her reincarnation.

The silence stretched on for a long time while everyone awaited Kikyo's response. She didn't want eternal rest, she didn't want to die again. At least, not alone. She glanced at Inuyasha and thought about taking him with her. She smiled to herself as she thought about the first time she tried to drag him down to hell.

She supposed that if she helped them kill Naraku, Kagome might allow her time to say goodbye to her old lover, which she might not do if Kikyo acted alone. Then she would have a chance to take his soul with her, wherever she ended up going. She just didn't want to be alone.

Finally the undead priestess laughed, but she didn't agree to Kagome's terms and just turned to leave the clearing.

"I will be there when you fight Naraku." She called over her shoulder and vanished before anybody could reply.

Kagome directed everyone to return to camp and for once Inuyasha listened to her without complaint. He was too stunned for words.

* * *

General Yin and his men reached the Western Palace in the middle of the night. He knew the importance of his report to his Lord, so he rushed from the barracks to find the toad demon, Jaken. He found him grumbling in the kitchens over a plate of sweets, presumably for the Lord's young human ward. He got the toad's attention easily and handed him the report.

Once Jaken had grasped the report in his hands, he abandoned the desert he was preparing for Rin and rushed off to find his Lord. He was sure he wanted to read what the boar General had found out. He found his Lord's presence inside his study. He quickly knocked and waited for a response.

Lord Sesshomaru looked up from the large stacks of parchment, scrolls and books on his desk and gave Jaken permission to enter the room. The toad demon waddled in, bowed and placed a slip of parchment on his desk.

"General Yin has just returned my Lord, this is his report." Lord Sesshomaru waved the demon out and started to read the report:

" _My Lord Sesshomaru,_

 _We believe we found the described priestess in a village in the Central Lands. However when we arrived there to collect her, her mentor informed us she had fled in fear. My scouts told me she fled deep into the Central Lands, however she has covered her tracks well._

 _The maps we have were not sufficient enough to risk pursuing her that deeply. I made the decision to not risk the safety of my men and we returned to the palace."_

Lord Sesshomaru called for a servant to bring him the General. She returned moments later with him and the General bowed low before his Lord.

"Tell me everything about the village you found her in." Lord Sesshomaru's voice was a deep monotone that allowed no argument.

"There were many rumours surrounding the village. From what I understood, the rumour about a priestess, monk, demon slayer, full demons and a hanyou all living there together in peace was true." He lifted his head slightly so he could speak directly to his Lord.

"A hanyou?" Lord Sesshomaru stopped General Yin from continuing and whispered under his breath, "my half-brother."

Lord Sesshomaru waved General Yin out and quickly finished his work. Once he completed everything and left instructions for the next few days, he left to find Rin and Jaken, who were in her bedroom. A demon handmaiden was brushing Rin's hair as Jaken watched over them. The handmaiden quietly left when Lord Sesshomaru entered the room and she closed the doors behind her.

"Jaken, you will watch over Rin as I will be leaving the palace."

"What? No!" Rin protested when she heard him.

"Be quiet Rin." Jaken told her as he bowed low before his lord, "yes, My Lord."

"I want to come with you Lord Sesshomaru. You have never left me behind before!" Rin was upset that he was leaving her behind. She wasn't a baby anymore, but even when she was younger they always travelled everywhere together.

"For your safety, you must stay here Rin." Sesshomaru finally told her. He was hoping to keep the girl in the safety of the palace, but he knew how stubborn she was. She gained that particular quality from him.

"I'm the most safe by your side Lord Sesshomaru." She stubbornly replied. There was a ghost of a smile on her face. She knew with this once sentence she had successfully won the argument before it had begun.

Sesshomaru couldn't refute her logic, especially when she spoke the truth so fully. If he argued with her any further it would stain his honour. Apparently she had learned quite a lot on how to manipulate men from his mother. Confronted with his mother's formidable courtly tactics, he really didn't have a choice but to agree to take Rin with them.

Secretly he was pleased, she was beginning to grow into a fine young woman. She was intelligent and graceful, as any ward of Lord Sesshomaru should be. She was also fiercely loyal, something rare in the royal courts. This was the trait that eventually warmed his mother towards her, so much so that she agreed to keep her sky palace close to the Western Palace so she could teach Rin and see them both more often. Her presence was a welcome familiarity in his newly rebuilt court.

He always found Rin to be a breath of fresh air after spending so much time among the royal and higher houses of the factions. Unlike them, Rin did not have an ulterior motive and she was _always_ on his side.

He sent Jaken to gather provisions for Rin and to get Ah-Un saddled, while he stepped over to her wardrobe and picked out a simple orange kimono. Rin grabbed a leather bag from the back of her wardrobe and took the kimono from Sesshomaru. He summoned her handmaiden and the young demoness helped Rin to undress from her formal clothing and get ready for travel.

Sesshomaru left her room and joined Jaken outside the stables. Ah-Un was watered and saddled with Rin's provisions strapped to the leather harness.

Soon enough Rin exited the palace and met them at the stables. She smiled at Sesshomaru and jumped onto Ah-Un's back. Jaken jumped on behind her and the three of them flew high into the sky. Sesshomaru summoned his cloud beneath his feet and flew into the air ahead of them. The two headed dragon followed after his Lord and master.

"Jaken, where are we going?" Rin asked when the palace was no longer in sight.

He didn't answer her, which spoke volumes. He was just as clueless as she was. However she trusted her Lord. So she wasn't worried. Instead she revelled in the sunlight and the joyful feeling of flying.

Sesshomaru didn't want to answer either of them. They didn't need to know they were looking for a human priestess. Not only that, they were looking for a very specific one. His half-brother's priestess. The still living one.

The thought of being in debt to his half-brother's priestess heated his blood with anger and disgust. He had no desire to interact with them more than absolutely necessary and he hated the idea of owing them. He knew after he had repaid his debt to her he would most likely have to kill her. Which Inuyasha would never let him do without a fight.

The whole situation was just going to become a huge mess to clean up and he didn't want to deal with it at all, though he knew had to rid himself of this debt before someone else got their hands on her while he still owed her.

He glanced at Rin behind him. She was singing happily as Ah-Un freely flew through the sky and made her journey more interesting with twists, dips and turns.

He wasn't sure how Rin would react if he killed the priestess. He knew she liked the strange woman. Eventually, he decided not to dwell on it. Rin was loyal to him, she would trust in his judgement.


	5. Chapter 4 - Dissolution

**Chapter 4 ~ Dissolution**

Kagome and her friends were abruptly woken from their sleep by a slight earthquake. It didn't take the raven-haired woman long to be completely awake and alert. She checked the status of her barrier, but couldn't detect anything in its range. She quickly started equipping her armour.

"What's going on?" Shippo asked as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"I can sense Jewel Shards!" Kagome yelled suddenly as she was in the middle of pulling on her armoured boots.

"Where?!" Inuyasha demanded after he leaped from his tree.

"That way!" Kagome pointed in the correct direction and her alpha sprinted off before the rest of them were ready.

While Sango and Kagome were fast at equipping their armour and weapons, they were still slower than Miroku and Shippo who dashed ahead of them after their alpha. Once both women were prepared for battle, they mounted Kirara's larger form and flew off after their friends.

They were presented with a slightly shocking sight. Inuyasha, Miroku and Shippo were fighting against two huge giants. They were easily the size of small mountains and they towered over them all.

The slightly purple giant that was bald wielded a large nagamaki against Inuyasha, but the huge sword was more of a hindrance than any real threat as Inuyasha was able to dodge the giant's slow attacks rather easily.

The other giant was slightly green and wielded a naginata. Unlike its bald companion, this one had black hair tied into a topknot. Miroku and Shippo were not fairing as well against the green giant as it wielded its naginata with an expertise and poise that the other giant did not posses.

Inuyasha's attacks did next to nothing to either of the giants and the wind scar was more of an annoyance to them than any real threat. Miroku's sutras and Shippo's fox-fire did slightly more damage as giants were known to be weak to fire-based attacks, but they didn't have the power to take either of them out.

Kagome jumped off Kirara and found a good place under the cover of the trees to set up her bow. She quickly attached the bow string to the wood and tested its stretch. Satisfied that her weapon was in good condition she notched an arrow and started scanning the giants for the shards' locations.

Meanwhile Kirara and Sango had flown high into the air. The slayer threw her Hiraikotsu at the purple giant, but the bone weapon did little more than bruise its shoulder. She caught her weapon and glanced at Kagome, her best-friend still seemed to be searching for the shard, so she threw her weapon at the giant's face to gain its attention again.

"I'm opening the Wind Tunnel!" Miroku suddenly announced.

Kirara immediately flew down to Inuyasha and he grabbed Sango's outstretched arm. When he was on the cat's back and the three of them were well out of range, Miroku opened the Wind Tunnel.

However he didn't get much chance to suck in the giants when Naraku's Saimyosho appeared. He quickly sealed the Wind Tunnel before they had a chance to fly into it and swore under his breath.

The green giant suddenly leaped into the air and swung his naginata at Kirara, Sango and Inuyasha who were floating in the air. The cat demon quickly flew to the side and dodged the attack. However the force generated by the giant's landing shook Miroku, Shippo and Kagome off balance and caused them to trip and fall.

Inuyasha immediately leaped off the cat demon and landed on the green giant's face. He successfully distracted it from his disoriented friends, while Sango threw her Hiraikotsu at the purple giant to also gain its attention.

Finally Kagome steadied herself and began her search for the shards once again, but she was distracted by Kagura's arrival.

"Dance of the Dead!" the demoness announced the name of her spell and countless undead soldiers rose up from the ground to surround them.

"Shit," Kagome swore under her breath when she was surrounded by undead soldiers. "Everyone run!"

"What?!" Inuyasha yelled out when he heard her command and was about to call her a weak cowered among other things, but he was stunned into silence when he saw her cut off one of the soldier's heads with her sword and leap over its crumpled body. She quickly sprinted away before its bones even reached the ground.

"I'll hold off the giants!" the silver-haired half-demon yelled at his remaining friends.

"Inuyasha-" Miroku started and reached out for his alpha, but Inuyasha interrupted him and shoved his hand away.

"Go!" he roared as he pointed at the direction Kagome had sped off moments before.

Miroku did as he was told and ran after the priestess with Shippo hot on his heels. Sango didn't follow after them as she slashed at the purple giant's hand with her sword.

"What are you waiting for Sango?!" He demanded when he blocked the purple giant's nagamaki once again.

"I'm helping _you_!" She replied as she and Kirara flew past the giant for another slash.

"Keh," Inuyasha pushed the giant's weapon aside and shot another wind scar at it. "I don't need your help."

"I know!" She added and smirked at him. He would never admit it aloud, but he was glad for the backup.

They were both too distracted with the purple giant's erratic and dangerous movements to notice that the slightly green giant had stopped his attacks and was staring at the spot Kagome had run through. It glanced at Kagura as she flew past.

"What are you waiting for you brute?" she glared at it and pointed at the spot Kagome ran through with her fan, "go after them!"

It did as she commanded, moving quite fast for a creature its size. However Kagura could not follow after the giant since she had to dodge a purification arrow. She quickly glanced around the battlefield and noticed Kikyo by the tree-line.

"I'm here to back you up Inuyasha!" Kikyo announced from her position as she continued to attack the wind witch. Inuyasha and Sango barely had time to stop and greet her as they continued their assault, but there was no doubt they heard her.

Kagome could faintly sense the giant following them from the Jewel Shard it carried, but the sense was muffled in a similar way Naraku's shard was. Miroku and Shippo caught up to her quite easily once she slowed down to track the giant's movements. Miroku knew they had no choice but to fight it so he started unsealing his Wind Tunnel.

"Don't." Kagome grabbed his wrist before he could remove the beads sealing his curse.

"Why?" He questioned silently, but he noticed the quiet buzzing between the trees as soon as the word left his mouth. He looked at her grimly and she nodded.

"I haven't found the shard yet either, can't risk you sucking it up."

"Good point." Miroku nodded and they continued running from the giant.

Suddenly the slightly green giant started throwing uprooted trees at them. Shippo squeaked in terror each time one of the ruined trees landed near them.

"Left!" the young demon gasped as a tree came rushing at them. He quickly pushed Kagome in the right direction and they both crashed down to the ground.

"Thanks Shippo." She quickly helped him to his feet and they both started running again.

They had no choice but to swerve and dodge each tree as fast as they could. Soon enough Kagome gained the distinct impression that they were being led somewhere, but they hardly had a choice. They had to go where they were bid, or they would be flattened by a tree.

Before long, the forest thinned out around them and they burst into a clearing. Facing them was an imposing drop as the clearing ended in a sharp cliff. Kagome tried to drag her friends back the other way, but the giant appeared and obscured the forest they came through. She tried to side-step the giant and run around it, but Hakudoshi appeared and stopped her approach.

"Not so fast!" he attacked her with his naginata as he yelled at her. She dodged his attack and quickly back-stepped with Miroku and Shippo either side of her in front of the cliff.

"Dammit," she growled low under her breath and frantically scanned the giant for the hidden Jewel Shard. She was so distracted by her task that she didn't notice Miroku rush in front of her and open the Wind Tunnel.

"Wind Tunnel!" he yelled aloud as the wind started rushing past them all to be sucked into the curse on his right hand.

Before Shippo could stop him, dozens of the Saimyosho rushed straight past the giant and into the tunnel to poison him from the inside. He fell to his knees, but didn't close the tunnel. His cursed had was the only thing holding back the giant and Hakudoshi from attacking them.

"Miroku!" Shippo yelled his name aloud and shook his shoulder.

Kagome ignored Shippo's franticly pleading voice and the sharp bursts of fox-fire that he shot at Hakudoshi and the green giant. She had to find the shard or Miroku's sacrifice would be for nothing, however as she started to grow frustrated she found it.

The shard was in the middle of the giant's chest but it was partially concealed by a dark barrier, a new trick of Naraku's and the reason why it took her so long to find it. Instantly she notched an arrow to her bow and shot a white purification arrow at the giant.

It flew true and struck the giant right where the Jewel shard was hidden. At the same time Miroku shut his Wind Tunnel and sealed it just before his eyes fluttered closed and he fell unconscious.

Once the arrow pierced the giant's chest, it fell to one knee and Kagome hoped it would simply fall over and die, but it didn't. Hakudoshi pulled the smoking shaft out of the giant's chest and snapped it in his grip.

"Is that the best you can manage?" He laughed as he taunted her.

Dread filled Kagome's every pore, giants were not demons so of course her powers would be ineffectual at best, but she didn't realise exactly how ineffective it was until that moment. She quickly side-stepped the giant's naginata as it swung the huge weapon down on the cliff-side. Shippo had to hurriedly drag Miroku out of it's range after he fainted.

The entire cliff-side exploded as the weapon slammed down on the tough stone. Dirt and rocks were flung everywhere and visibility was greatly reduced as a result. The giant removed its weapon from the earth and held it over its shoulder while it and Hakudoshi waited for the dust and debris to settle.

Shippo and Miroku were effectively trapped under a small mound of stone so Hakudoshi decided to ignore them. He focused his attention on Kagome, who was shakily getting to her feet. She quickly brushed the dust from her hair and face as she unsheathed her sword. Her discarded bow was crushed under some stones and he was glad she couldn't shoot her annoying arrows at them anymore, though he wondered what she was planning to do with a sword.

The Kagome Hakudoshi was familiar with had no idea how to use a sword, she could barely use a bow. Though the last time he had seen her was at least five years ago, he still didn't think the weak human in front of him had the guts or strength to learn any kind of swordsmanship or martial art.

"Hakudoshi!" Kagome yelled at the demon incarnation, interrupting his thoughts, "does Naraku still want my eyes or not?!"

"Don't be ridiculous," he chucked at her and shook his head, "he just wants you out of the way now. The Jewel is almost complete, what use could he possibly have for a rebellious jewel detector?"

"Shit," she whispered under her breath, but Hakudoshi had heard her and simply laughed at her expletive.

Her mind ran completely dry of ideas, but a thought struck her when she remembered that the giant had faltered. When her arrow struck it, it fell to its knee. Even if her powers were ineffectual on giants, purification was not the only aspect of her power, just the most effective against demons and the most well known ability in a priestess's arsenal. Unlike most other priestesses she had other ways to utilise her power, so there was still a chance she could take it down.

She gripped her sword with two hands and closed her eyes. She stilled her breathing as she used her power to force her heart and brain into overdrive. When she opened her eyes again they glinted with white light and time had apparently slowed down around her. More precisely, her perception of time had slowed as her movements had greatly sped up. She briefly wondered if this was how Kouga saw the world before she leaped from her feet and ran towards the giant.

At fast as she could she imbued her sword with her white power and slashed at its legs. Thick blood slowly seeped out from the wounds, but she didn't wait as she leaped upwards and buried her sword in the giant's chest.

By the time the giant had raised its weapon high in the air, it was covered in hundreds of deep cuts and the shards twinkled in the sunlight from a deep hole in its chest.

"What?" Hakudoshi questioned quietly as he watched the giant stumble and fall to its knees.

"Kagome!" Shippo called out to his adoptive mother when she also fell to her knees, clutching at her heart. She was back at her starting position, she moved so fast not even Hakudoshi had witnessed her movements.

"What the hell did you do?!" he yelled at Kagome when he saw her sword was covered in the giant's dark blood.

She didn't reply and instead thrust out her hand. She gathered energy in her fingers and made a pulling motion as she closed her fist. When she did, the shards were ripped from the giant, who fell backwards from the force, its leaking life-force clearly visible as green streams of light.

By then Kagome was breathing and sweating heavily and she could barely move her arms, but she opened her hand and the shards flew over to land on her exposed palm. They instantly purified at her touch.

The giant caused a huge earthquake when it finally crashed onto its back, the last of its life-force shuddered out of its many wounds and dissolved into the sky. The quake the giant caused, jolted free the rocks that were trapping Miroku and Shippo. The rocks rolled down the mound and the two of them were finally freed from their stone prison. However the quake also caused the unsteady grown beneath Kagome to dangerously split and crack apart.

"Kagome! Run!" Shippo yelled at her when he realised what was happening, but it was all she could do to look at her son with love and exhaustion in her eyes. She mouthed the words 'I love you Shippo', but otherwise did not move when the ground beneath her completely broke apart and fell away.

Her body flew down the cliff-side crashing against the stony cliff-side and bouncing this way and that. Each sound reverberating back up to them was deafening to the fox-demon and he could not tear his eyes away from the spot Kagome was just kneeling at moments before.

Hakudoshi glanced over the cliff-side for a moment and quickly found Kagome in a huge puddle of her own blood. Her limbs were sticking out in strange directions and her eyes were blank and lifeless as they stared at the sky. There was no doubt in his mind that she was dead. Satisfied, he laughed and did a childish little spin in the air.

"Finally!" he exclaimed in satisfaction and flew off to report the good news to Naraku, completely ignoring Shippo and Miroku. The latter of whom he assumed would die from the poison soon anyway and the former was too weak to even care about.

Meanwhile back in the middle of the forest, Sango and Inuyasha were finally able to defeat the purple nagamaki wielding giant with Kikyo's assistance. She exhausted all her powers and used every single one of her arrows continuously attacking the spot where the shard was buried in the purple giant. Its chest.

Inuyasha's Wind Scars did no direct damage to the giant, but he was able to use them to disturb its balance and make it easier for Sango to slice vulnerable places with her sword. She felt like she had dealt one thousand cuts to the giant before it finally toppled over from blood-loss and slowly died.

Kagura left well before this moment as Kikyo had dispatched most of her undead soldiers and Sango destroyed the rest with her Hiraikotsu, so she was not there to witness their victory. Though she knew the giant would lose, it was not as skilled or intelligent as its green brother. Kikyo retrieved the shards from the giant's chest and she joined Inuyasha, Sango and Kirara for a small victory at its feet.

"Damn thing was tough." Inuyasha commented surprisingly.

"Aren't you glad I stayed?" Sango teased him.

"Keh," he scoffed, "I could have beat it without you."

"And me as well?" Kikyo asked as she tucked the shards away in the sleeves of her white hitoe. He glanced at her but couldn't give her an answer. Kikyo just smiled at him sweetly.

Only Sango noticed when Kirara's ears perked up and she started to scent the air. The demon cat meowed at her friend and leaped into the air. She flew to the other side of the dead giant and meowed loudly once again.

"What's up with the cat?" Inuyasha asked when he noticed her noises.

"She wants us to follow her." Sango replied over her shoulder as she rushed to her feline companion.

"Why?" he didn't move as Sango got onto the two-tailed cat's back.

"Something must be wrong." she called over her back just before the cat bounded off into the forest.

"Inuyasha," Kikyo started while she gently gripped his arm, "lets follow them."

The half demon only nodded at her once before he scooped her up into his arms and followed Sango and the demon cat. It didn't take him long to smell the same thing Kirara had, Shippo's tears and a huge amount of blood. Though he was still too far to tell who's blood it was.

The four companions burst onto the ruined cliff-side all at the same time and were greeted by the sight of a crying and hysterical fox demon screaming over the side of the cliff. Miroku was unconscious behind him and the green giant's blood had covered everything in sight. Its stinking blood smelled disgusting and it almost completely masked every other scent on the cliff-side.

"Miroku!" Sango gasped and ran over to him after she jumped down from Kirara.

Kikyo quickly followed her and tried to help her revive the unconscious monk. They were successful in rousing him and first thing he saw when he awoke was Sango's worried face.

"Sango?" he groaned when he tried to get up, she smiled in response.

"Don't move, there is a lot of poison in your body." Kikyo replied and pushed him back down.

"Where's Kagome?" As if on cue to his question Shippo sucked in a deep breath and stopped crying.

"She was with you." Inuyasha replied.

"I don't know what happened after I closed the Wind Tunnel." he shrugged, but the motion pained him and he groaned.

"Wait here, I will see if there are any medicinal herbs in the forest." Kikyo helped Sango make him comfortable before she quickly rushed off into the forest.

"Shippo." Miroku called to the young fox demon. "What happened after I passed out?"

The green eyed boy turned around to face the monk and couldn't contain the fresh tears that spilled. A sob tore from his throat when he opened it to speak, so he clenched his jaw shut and turned back to the cliff. He just lifted one shaking arm and pointed down to the bottom of the ravine.

Inuyasha slowly walked over to Shippo and crouched next to him. It took him a long time to process exactly what he was seeing. Kagome's crumpled and bloody body looked completely foreign to him so he couldn't immediately recognise her.

"Kagome?" he whispered to himself, unsure of what he was seeing. At the sound of her name, Shippo one again broke down into sobs and threw himself into Inuyasha's limp and shell-shocked embrace.

"What did you just say Inuyasha?" Sango asked, suddenly angry.

" _Kagome_." He repeated, louder. His voice was shaky and uneven.

"No." Sango whispered to herself and left Miroku's side to see for herself. " _No_!"

Her anguished cry was loud enough to disturb all of the animals in the forest and it drew Kikyo back to them. She quickly burst through the tree-line to Miroku's side to check on him, but he pointed at his three friends next to the cliff-side. She realised that Sango wasn't anguished over the monk's condition, so she helped him to his feet and joined the others.

"Its not true." Miroku whispered to himself when he saw Kagome at the bottom of the ravine.

Kikyo almost dropped him on the ground in her shock, but she held fast and leaned him next to Inuyasha before she pulled out a string of beads and started praying for her reincarnation's soul.

Inuyasha glanced at her.

The undead priestess's solemn face finally made him snap and a blood chilling, anguished growl tore from his throat.


	6. Chapter 5 - Separation

**Chapter 5 ~ Separation**

Kikyo was the first one to move from the cliff-side. She left the others there in their shell-shocked states while she returned to the forest to find the herbs she was looking for earlier. It didn't take her long to find the herbs since she was moving quickly for Miroku's sake.

Once she had enough, she quickly rushed back to the cliff-side and forced Miroku to chew on the stems and leaves of some of the herbs. He wasn't moving thanks to his completely horrified state, but when she forced him to sit up so she could assess the poison's damage to his body, his pain returned with a vengeance and a blood-curdling scream tore its way from his throat.

The sound of his pained voice broke the other members of their group from their stupor and the cliff-side was filled with activity as everyone worked together to make a stretcher for their poisoned friend. The sudden burst of activity and single-minded goal of saving Miroku was enough to push aside their grief stricken and horrified thoughts about Kagome.

"Wait, so you haven't made the antidote yet?" Inuyasha suddenly asked when he realised they were moving Miroku before Kikyo had healed him.

"I can't make it here, the giant's blood has corrupted everything around us. We need to go somewhere with clean water and air. Somewhere I will be able to purify. My powers are not as potent as Kagome's powers." Kikyo paused with a frown for a moment and slowly corrected herself, "not as potent as her powers _were_."

Everyone winced when she corrected herself, but they had to push aside their grief for Miroku's sake.

"What about the poison?" Sango asked with worry on her face as she glanced at their dying friend.

"The herbs he is chewing on are used to make a tea-like antidote. While the effect is much more effective and faster when consumed in liquid form, making him chew on the herbs will give him some more time. Which in turn will give _us_ time to find a safer location so I can heal him."

Sango nodded once Kikyo was finished with her explanation. She turned to Shippo and told him, "take Kirara with you and scout ahead, you need to find us a clean water source close to some place safe where we can make camp."

"Sure, but what should I be looking for? Something like a cave?" he looked at Kikyo when he asked.

"A cave would be suitable, but the water source is more important."

"Alright." He turned to Kirara and they nodded to each other before they both sprung into action and left the cliff-side.

"We should get moving." Inuyasha commented as he scented the air. He grabbed the front of the stretcher and waited for Kikyo and Sango to grab the back of it before they all carefully lifted it and made their way deeper into the forest.

It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky, which indicated it was about noon, that Shippo and Kirara returned to the group. The young fox kit waved to the group as they landed in from of them.

"What did you find?" Kikyo asked quickly.

"There is a river not far from here which drops into a waterfall over the edge of the cliff-side. On the other side of the river is a cave, which doesn't look like its being used by anything. Its not connected to any tunnels and its pretty huge, more like a cavern than a cave actually. There aren't any demon settlements or villages within scenting distance, so even if the wind turns against us, nobody will know we are there." Kirara mewled her affirmation once he was finished and the two girls of the group looked at each other with relieved looks on their faces.

"Well?" Inuyasha turned his head to look at Kikyo without dropping Miroku's stretcher.

"It sounds perfect." She replied with a strained smile on her face.

"Lead the way Shippo." Inuyasha said once he turned to face the young demon.

He did as he was asked and led the group towards the river with the cavern across from it. It took them the rest of the afternoon to reach it, so it was late evening by the time they got there and they were loosing sunlight fast.

"The river is deeper than it looks, you can't stand in it and carry Miroku at the same time." Shippo commented.

"Kirara and I will fly him over." Sango replied and the cat demon transformed into her larger form.

With Inuyasha's help, they were able to get him in an upright position sitting in front of the slayer. Once he was surely within Sango's embrace, the fire cat slowly flew them over the lake and gently landed on the other side. Sango patiently waited for Inuyasha to leap across the lake with Kikyo and Shippo before she helped the monk onto their leader's back.

Inuyasha took Miroku inside the cave with Sango and Shippo hot on his heels while Kikyo gathered enough water so she could make the antidote. While she was there, she also gathered enough water for everyone to drink through the night.

When she entered the cave, Shippo was lighting the camp-fire and Sango was covering Miroku in blankets beside the fresh fire.

Inuyasha approached the undead priestess and helped her carry all of the water into the cave, he handed Sango one of the water pouches and she quickly took a big gulp from it before she instructed Miroku to spit out the green mush in his mouth and take small sips of water from the pouch. Inuyasha sat down and stared at the two of them. Now that he didn't have a task to complete, his thoughts returned to the gruesome image that was burned into his retinas. He didn't want to believe she was gone, but as he glanced around at what remained of their group, he realised what exactly they had just gone through.

The fight against the giants had drained them all and they were all running on the dredges of their energy, adrenalin the only thing fuelling their movements at that point. While Miroku had the worst injury in the form of his life-threatening poisoning, Sango was covered in lacerations from head to toe and she favoured her left arm more than usual. Shippo was also covered in small cuts and bruises and he was limping. Kirara's fur was matted in places with blood and dirt but her injuries were the least severe thanks to her demon blood already healing everything.

Kikyo looked completely drained and every now and then a soul would leak from the old scar on her shoulder and try to escape; which caused her to drop whatever she was doing and meditate so she could suppress the souls within herself. Inuyasha was the only one who had come out of the last battle without any wounds.

His thoughts turned to Kagome once again and her broken body at the bottom of the ravine.

She had always been the weakest one in their group, that hadn't changed even after her training during the past four years. She was human, which made her physically weaker and slower than all the demons of the group, even Shippo.

Sango had been trained as a demon slayer almost from the moment she could walk and Miroku had spent his whole life fighting against demons and the wind-scar. Kagome had come from the futuristic and peaceful Japan of the future and as such did not have the training or experiences of the other two humans in the group. Her spiritual powers had closed the gap between their combat skills considerably, but she had still been learning to use them effectively. If she went overboard and forced out too much power all at once it would have negative effects on her body, like their last fight with Naraku.

After Kaede had examined her, she said that the reason Kagome had been in so much pain after that battle was because the stress of forcing her heart, brain and body into overdrive was too much for them to handle and they effectively shut down temporarily. Which meant that whenever she pulled out enough power to rival a full-blooded demon she had been at risk of destroying her own body. Kaede had always stressed that the strain on her body had only been a temporary side-effect of using her full power. Once she got better at controlling her power and once her body had become a stronger vessel for her spiritual power, the side effects would subside until eventually there would have been no cost to using her power fully.

If only he had protected her better, or if he had helped her train, she might have been strong enough to survive her last battle. But he hadn't protected her and he was too prideful to teach a _human woman_ any combat skills.

He had been in denial the whole time they had carried Miroku to the cavern, but now it was starting to sink in. She was really _gone_. He hadn't protected her and now she was gone and he would never be able to make that right. Even if he went out to the cliff-side again, nothing would have changed. She would still be lying at the bottom in a puddle of blood and with her limbs jutting out at odd angels. He suddenly realised that he didn't want to see her like that.

"I'm a coward," he whispered to himself softly with a look of complete shock on his face.

He flinched suddenly when he remembered something _she_ had said to him a couple of years ago, _"why wont you face me Inuyasha? Going behind my back and never speaking to me about this only makes you a huge coward."_ It was the first time she had ever said anything negative to him. Of course he hadn't believed her at the time, but now he knew the truth, she had always been right. About everything.

"No, you're not." Kikyo whispered to him when she slowly sat down beside him. He didn't even realise she was there, so her sudden presence surprised him.

Nobody else could hear them since they were sitting on the other side of the cavern, far away from Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kirara who were all huddled around the camp-fire with looks of complete despair on their faces. Kikyo gently leaned her head on his shoulder and pat his upright knee with her hand.

"I can't go back and see her like that," he whispered in response to her words.

"Nobody wants to see her like that. I may not have liked her very much, but I respected her. Seeing my reincarnation in such a state was as much a shock to me as it was to all of you." She replied softly and gently kissed his jaw.

He closed his eyes and sighed softly in response. "Yeah, you're right."

* * *

After days of searching and flying through the countryside of the Central Lands, Sesshomaru was finally able to catch the scent of his half-brother. He made a beeline straight for it, but it would still take him an hour or so to reach it if he didn't want to leave Ah-Un, Rin and Jaken behind. Which he didn't.

So they all flew together. Rin was enjoying the sunlight and the breeze and Sesshomaru often wondered how she was able to find so much joy in her life. They had been flying for a long time already, any ordinary human child would have been whining and complaining days ago, but then, Rin wasn't any ordinary human child. She was his one and only ward and the Shining Star of the Western Palace. The one creature that brought him peace and expected nothing of him in return.

Suddenly the revolting smells of rotting giant flesh assaulted his delicate senses and he stopped mid-flight to find the source.

"Don't land," he commanded Ah-Un without turning to look at his companions and immediately flew down to what looked like the remains of a battlefield.

Landing next to the corpse of a purple giant, he inspected the battlefield and found the familiar scent he was looking for. He followed it to the corpse of a green giant before he left the second battlefield towards the scent of his half-brother and a river. Ah-Un did as it was commanded and followed Sesshomaru above the tree-tops.

When Sesshomaru emerged from the forest facing the river, he called down Ah-Un and the dragon landed beside him.

"Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin asked with a slightly worried expression.

He gently pat her head, which caused her to smile happily, before he stepped forwards and sent his demonic aura into the cavern across the river. He waited for his half-brother to rush out and attack him as was usual between them, but nobody emerged from the cavern. Thinking he might be asleep, he sent even more of his aura into the cavern. However like before, nobody came out.

His eyebrow moved a millimetre downwards, which was what constituted a frown for Sesshomaru. He was displeased that he would have to be the one to move. He leaped over the river, not even glancing behind him while Ah-Un did the same with Rin and Jaken upon its back.

When he entered, his senses were assaulted with the smell of poison and bitter medicine. Nobody acknowledged his arrival, but this was attributed to Inuyasha, Kirara, the humans and Kikyo being asleep. Shippo was the only one who was awake and Kagome was nowhere to be found. It was obviously Miroku who was giving off the smell of poison and medicine.

He looked around the cavern in search of the priestess, but when he could not locate her by sight or scent he turned to look at the young fox demon who was her adopted child. The child was awake, but barely concious, his face was tear-stained and he had bags under his blood-shot eyes.

Sesshomaru approached the small demon and lifted him up gently. Shippo didn't even respond to being moved. The demon lord again 'frowned' and brought the kit outside where he would be able to speak with him without waking anyone else.

"Shippo!" Rin exclaimed in happiness when she recognised the boy by his orange hair. However she realised there was something wrong with him when he didn't respond. Sesshomaru sat the child against the side of the mountain and Rin rushed over to brush his hair out of his eyes. "Shippo?"

He didn't respond to her voice or anything she did.

Finally, frustrated that the fox was ignoring both his liege and his ward, Jaken stomped forward and hit him in the head with the Staff of Two Skulls.

"Ah!" Shippo yelled in shock and immediately covered his head with his hands.

"Jaken! Why did you do that?" Rin asked with her hands on her hips and a displeased expression gracing her gentle features.

"He was ignoring Lord Sesshomaru and you, Lady Rin." Jaken bowed quickly with his head in the dirt.

"I've told you a hundred times not to call me that Jaken, its just Rin." She helped him to his feet with a smile on her face and he nodded, but he wouldn't do her or his lord the disrespect of addressing her without a title.

"What...what's going on?" Shippo glanced at all of them, unsure of what was happening.

"That's what we want to ask _you_." Jaken quickly interjected before Rin could reply.

"What?" Shippo just stared at them, dumbfounded. Jaken didn't reply and instead glanced at his Lord and Master. Sesshomaru was staring off into the distance, evidently trying to focus on something far off in the distance.

However he was aware of what was happening behind him and asked, "where is the Shikon Priestess?"

"Shik-? you mean Kagome?!" Shippo exclaimed in shock, but his voice broke on her name and he clutched at his chest while he painfully held back new sobs.

"What's wrong Shippo?" Rin asked gently as she leaned over him and softly stroked his hair. He looked up at her, but the words wouldn't leave his throat.

"Did something happen to her?" She asked slowly and gently. Shippo only nodded in silence and clutched at his chest harder. "Something bad?"

"She," he paused and sucked in a shaking breath before he continued, "she's gone."

"Gone?" Rin gasped as fresh tears escaped his eyes and spilled over his cheeks. "What do you mean?"

"She is dead." Sesshomaru was the one who replied. It wasn't a question, he could finally smell her blood through the rotting scent that was the dead giants. It couldn't fully mask her scent since it was still laced with her spiritual power, but he still couldn't exactly locate the source. Shippo broke down crying in Rin's arms as soon as the words left Sesshomaru lips. The demon lord decided to let the child mourn while he could, he would need his guidance to find her corpse in the battlefield.

Once Shippo was calm enough to talk to again, Rin asked him if he would be alright. "I will," was all he could say as he shakily got to his feet.

"What do you need from me Lord Sesshomaru?" Shippo asked from behind the silver haired man. He was still relying on Rin's help to stand, but Sesshomaru found that he didn't want to rip the boy to shreds for touching his ward.

"Take me to the priestess." He replied in his deep monotone. It wasn't a command, but Shippo knew he wouldn't leave until he took her to Kagome, but he couldn't stand the way he referred to her. She had been more than just a priestess. She had been his saviour, his protector, his friend and more recently, his mother. He loved her and even though she was dead and wouldn't be able to protest, or maybe _because_ she was dead, he wanted Sesshomaru to respect her.

"Only if you refer to her properly." He had a serious expression on his face.

"Take me to Kagome." Sesshomaru replied without hesitation and without changing his expression.

"This way." Shippo said as he lead the small group towards the remains of the battle with the green giant.

Rin had to cover her face when they got close enough to smell it. She had tears in her eyes by the time they made it to the ruined cliff-side, but she held back her disgust so she could help Shippo walk, who was weak from dehydration. On the way, he had told her that he hadn't been able to muster the energy to eat or drink anything. Her worry for the fox demon fuelled her determination and she was able to hold back from vomiting her lunch.

"Down there." Shippo pointed to the cliff-side without getting close enough to look.

"Shippo?" Rin asked when he wouldn't move any closer.

"I can't see her like that again." He replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

Sesshomaru cast a side-long glace at the fox demon and he softly pet his head as he walked past. Shippo was shocked at the action, but Rin just smiled and helped the boy to sit down. The two of them watched as Sesshomaru glanced over the edge of the cliff before jumping down.

He gracefully landed at the bottom of the ravine, close enough to Kagome that he could see her face. The damage to her body was severe, beyond what a human would be able to survive. It was evident that every bone in her body was broken and there was blood leaking from every orifice she had. The blood around and on her body was fairly fresh, she hadn't been dead for more than a day.

She was very dead, however he was the master of Tenseiga, the sword of life. So she wouldn't be dead for long, but if he saved her life, honour dictated that he would not be allowed to kill her again.

He decided that saving her life was more than enough to repay his debt to her, so he tightly gripped Tenseiga.

However the denizens of the underworld did not appear around her like they usually did around a recently departed soul. He released the hilt of his sword and bent down to feel for a pulse. He couldn't find one, nor was she breathing, but her body was enveloped in powerful spiritual magic.

He had never witnessed the death of a priestess as powerful as Kagome had been, so he had no idea if there were any special circumstances allocated with her death. He knew that Kikyo still held a part of her soul – he could smell it underneath the smell of graveyard soil and death – so perhaps that was what prevented him from reviving her.

Another possibility was that the magic being expelled from her body might have been keeping away the denizens of the underworld so they wouldn't be able collect her soul, which made Tenseiga worse than useless.

It was also possible that she had traded her soul away for some purpose; power, to break a curse or seal or simply to prevent her death at some other time. If she didn't have her soul he still wouldn't be able to use Tenseiga to save her.

Irritated that his decision to save her life was being thwarted, he tried to think of some other way he would be able to repay her. He leaped back up the cliff-side and the first thing he saw when he reached the top, was Rin trying to get Shippo to drink some water. Then it hit him.

Shippo.

The young fox demon was her adopted child. If he took him in and raised him along-side Rin, it would be more than enough to pay back his debt to the kit's adopted mother.

"Shippo." Sesshomaru used his name for the first time since they had met and the shock was evident on the young boy's face. Rin just smiled at him softly and gestured to her father-figure with her chin.

"Yes Lord Sesshomaru?" He replied quickly when he realise he had been staring.

"I will take you in now that Kagome is dead."

"What?" He was shocked.

"Come with us." He didn't skip a beat and started to walk past the children towards the river again.

"Wait!" Shippo jumped up and grabbed the hem of Sesshomaru's sleeve. "Couldn't you revive her? With Tenseiga?"

"I could not." He turned to stare at the kit.

"Why not?!" Shippo angrily yelled back at him, mustering all of his strength to show his displeasure with the lord, but he had completely misunderstood Sesshomaru's reply. "Why wont you save her?!"

"Tenseiga would not respond to her." He replied and gently placed a hand on the child's head. "Come with us."

"What..." He gasped and looked back at the cliff-side. "Why wouldn't it respond to her? Was she really dead?"

"She was really dead. There was no pulse or breath in her body."

"But-"

"She is dead and I could not revive her Shippo." Sesshomaru cut him off quickly.

"No!" Shippo screamed and new tears fell from his eyes, straining his dehydrated body even further. He clutched at his chest and fell into Rin's arms, who just hugged him and soothed his back with her soft hands.

"Shippo." She gently whispered and lifted his face so she could look into his eyes. "Sesshomaru wouldn't lie. Kagome must really be gone."

"We must return and gather your belongings." Sesshomaru cut in before Shippo could reply. The two children looked at him, but before they could return to the cavern Shippo stopped them with a hand on Sesshomaru's sleeve again. Oddly enough, Sesshomaru didn't mind the child's disrespectful actions much, but it was likely because Rin was fond of him and he was somewhat hysterical in his grief.

"I don't have any belongings with me."

"Do you want to take something that belonged to Kagome?" Rin asked gently and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Something that was hers?" He looked at Sesshomaru, who nodded. He bit his lip and looked at the young woman with a sad expression, "yes, please."

Sesshomaru, Rin and Shippo returned to the cavern, but only Shippo and Rin entered the large space. Thankfully everyone was still fast asleep so Shippo was able to grab all of Kagome's things from the camp-fire and return to the entrance without needing to speak to anyone.

"Everything?" Sesshomaru asked with an eyebrow ever so slightly raised.

"No, I just didn't want to wake anyone. I'd rather leave without saying goodbye." He replied as he started taking Kagome's things out of her bag and laying them out in front of him.

"Are you sure? You might not get to see them for a very long time." Rin asked softly while she helped him with his adoptive mother's things. Although her fingers lingered on a beautifully engraved silver pin, which appeared to be the most expensive thing Kagome had owned.

"Seeing them will just remind me of her. Especially with Kikyo there." He watched Rin's fingers brush over the silver pin and he stopped what he was doing to pick it up. "What should I take?"

"Something that will remind you of her." Sesshomaru replied from beside them. He had been watching them unpack Kagome's bag that whole time. She didn't own a lot and he couldn't see any sign of the strange clothing she used to wear.

"Something with her scent?"

"No, it will fade."

"She doesn't have a lot of possessions." Jaken commented simply from behind Rin.

"What happened to all her colourful clothing?" Rin asked softly.

"She doesn't wear...didn't wear any of that anymore." Shippo frowned when he corrected himself.

"You should take something that was important to her then." She smiled at him.

"This then." He showed Rin the pin that he was still clutching. "It was the first thing she bought with her own money once she finished her initial priestess training. She was really proud of herself for being able to save enough to get it. I was proud of her too.

"It'll remind me of her determination and her practicality."

"Her practicality?" Rin asked when Shippo handed it to her so she could inspect the delicate engravings in it.

"Apparently it turns black in the presence of poison, but I have never seen her use it."

"It is suitable." Sesshomaru added quickly and turned to check Ah-Un's saddle and bags.

"I agree. Its beautiful just like she was. I hope it brings you peace Shippo." Rin smiled and handed the silver pin back to Shippo, who clutched it close to his chest and closed his eyes with a sigh. "We should get going, its getting dark quickly."

"Yeah," he replied softly and took her outstretched hand.

He mounted Ah-Un behind Jaken and in front of Rin. However before Sesshomaru would allow the dragon to take off, he tied the three of them together with some rope, then tied the other end to Ah-Un's saddle. Rin moved Shippo's arms around Jaken's waist and told him to hold on before she encircled her own arms around the frail boy.

Sesshomaru summoned his cloud and flew into the sky first with Ah-Un hot on his heels.

* * *

The first rays of the morning sun pierced the darkness of the cavern. Slowly the inhabitants woke themselves up. Kikyo moved to first inspect Miroku's state before she move back to her work-space so she could make more medicine for him. He was much better compared to the night before, but the poison was still in his body, she expected that it would take a few days for him to be completely free of poison.

She was more worried about Shippo, who was refusing to eat or drink anything, but she didn't see him in the cavern when she woke, so she focused on her work.

"Where is Shippo?" Sango was the first one to speak that morning, but her question was met with blank looks from everyone. The young fox demon was nowhere in sight, even more odd was Kagome's bag, which was left in front of the camp-fire.

Sango got up and moved towards the bag. She looked inside and couldn't tell if anything was wrong, so she emptied the contents on the ground and went through them one by one.

"Its gone." She suddenly spoke.

"What?" Inuyasha asked as he walked over to see what she was doing.

"He must have taken it," she whispered, not hearing the half-demon.

"Sango, what?" This time she heard him.

"Her pin. The silver one. Its gone."

"You mean that thing she had been saving for forever?" Inuyasha asked with one eyebrow raised.

"Yes." She grabbed both of his arms. "I think he took it."

"Who?"

"Shippo!" She yelled at him. "I think he took it and left!"

"Hmm." Inuyasha hummed in response.

"We have to go find him! What if he gets in trouble? What if he gets hurt?!" Sango tightened her grip on his arms and tears dripped from her eyes. "I couldn't take it if anything happened to him too."

"No, we don't." Inuyasha replied and helped the woman to her feet, but she just slapped him.

"Yes we do!"

"Urgh," Inuyasha groaned softly and rubbed his cheek. It hadn't hurt much, but the fact that she had slapped him made him realise that she was not acting like herself at all. "Sango..."

"What!" She was angry now.

"Shippo is a demon. He's still a child, but he can take care of himself. He was doing just fine before we took him in...before _she_ took him in." He refused to use her name, it hurt too much. "He'll return to his demon-fox roots, tricking people, or he might go back to that school, remember?"

"I...remember." Sango replied slowly. "but...we're just going to leave him?"

"Its his choice if he wants to leave dear Sango. We wouldn't have been able to stop him even if we got the chance to try." Miroku replied from the other side of the camp-fire. "He obviously didn't want to be around us...Grief does strange things to people."

"But he took her pin!"

"He doesn't want to forget her, he just wants to deal with his own emotions and grief in his own way. We have to let him work his feelings out and if he decides he wants to come back, we'll welcome him with open arms." Miroku smiled weakly at his beloved slayer and opened his arms for her. She released Inuyasha's arms and sat down next to the monk.

"How are you three so calm right now?" Sango asked her companions as Kirara jumped onto her lap and curled up to go back to sleep.

"I am focusing on making these medicines for Miroku, I don't have time to grieve and he," Kikyo replied first and gestured to Miroku before continuing, "is busy not dying, he also does not have time to grieve."

"Inuyasha?" Sango asked softly.

"I'm a half-demon. I'm used to people betraying me or dying on me and I've already mourned the death of two important women to me. I wont let the death of the third go unpunished." He replied with resolution. "I'm going to kill Naraku. This time its personal."

"Wasn't it personal when he killed me?" Kikyo asked softly as she handed the medicinal tea to Sango and watched her help Miroku drink it.

"We thought we killed each other remember? I didn't know it was him until after the fact, by then I was already tired of being angry at you. I just wanted things to go back to how they were."

"Do you still want that?" She whispered in his ear and move to sit down at the other side of the cavern.

"I do." He replied when he sat down next to her. The others couldn't hear their conversation from so far away.

"Things can't be exactly the same as they were, but we can still be together now."

"Yeah, we can."

"Nothing will separate us the way it separated you and Kagome. I wont let it happen." Inuyasha winced at the sound of her name, but he smiled sadly at the undead priestess by his side.

"I know."

* * *

Two black foxes, one with green eyes and one with blue, slowly walked through the ravine with their heads turning from side to side. They appeared to be searching for something. The blue eyed fox released a high pitched noise and rushed ahead of the other one. It stopped in front of some black thing and called to its companion, who quickly rushed over.

They stared down at the mangled corpse of a young woman.

The blue eyed fox turned to its companion and said something. The green eyed fox said something back, they seemed to be disagreeing.

Finally after a long and heated argument in fox language, the green eyed fox seemed to give up and the blue eyed fox spun around and yipped happily. The green eyed fox butted its head against its companion and motioned to the dead woman.

They both bit into her cold and lifeless body and slowly dragged her off down the ravine.

* * *

"Guys!" Inuyasha suddenly yelled in the cavern one morning, gathering everybody's attention. "I've made a decision."

"About?" Sango asked when he walked in and stopped in front of the fire.

"We're going to hunt down Naraku and make him pay for what he did to Miroku and his family. We're going to make him pay for what he did to Sango and her family, we're going to make him pay for tricking Kikyo and I into fighting which resulted in her death and," he took in a deep breath before he added, "we're going to make him pay for what happened to _her_."

"I don't think I've ever heard you say so much without a single swear word all at once." Miroku replied softly when he was finished.

"I'm serious." Inuyasha frowned at his friend.

"I know. We can tell." Miroku gestured to the two women sitting by his side. "How do you plan on finding him?"

"I can't smell him and Kikyo can't sense his shards. _She_ couldn't sense them either." He added sadly before he sucked in a breath and continued, "so we just need to find someone who has better eyesight or a better sense of smell."

"That's...pretty smart." Sango slowly replied. "Are you feeling okay?"

"No. I'm not. I'm furious, my blood is boiling and my head is filled with images of _her_ , when she was still alive and after...her body...all...crumpled and bloody. Broken and dead." He shut his eyes and grimaced. "I can't do anything for her anymore. I can't protect her. I can't even apologise to her."

"Inuyasha-" Sango started, but he cut her off.

"The only thing I can do is get revenge for her."

"He's not wrong Sango." Miroku gently placed his hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes with a gentle smile. "That really is the only thing we can do for her now."

"I might have a lead." Kikyo suddenly added.

"What?" Sango stared at her in shock.

"Not a lead to Naraku, there is no evidence of his presence anywhere. No miasma, no death, even his incarnations had vanished until the last battle. I don't even know when he had hid himself or why, but it was obviously something serious."

"That was _her_ doing." Inuyasha quickly commented before she could continue. "She destroyed him."

"Wait...he's dead?!" Kikyo gasped in shock.

"No he isn't...well he might not be...we weren't sure before now." Miroku added with a shrug.

"So what happened to him?"

"Kagome happened." Sango replied quickly and Inuyasha winced at the sound of her name. "Ah...I'm sorry Inuyasha."

"Its...okay. Just...please don't mention her name until we've killed Naraku...I'm trying not to think about what happened."

"Okay..." Sango replied softly.

"So...my incarnation damaged him?" Kikyo asked softly.

"She decimated him." Miroku replied with a serious expression. "The pieces of his flesh were still smoking from her power after her attack, and the only parts of him that were left intact was his head and his heart which was encased in a barrier. Its been five years since then, but judging from the fact that he hadn't been able to immediately regenerate anything meant that the damage was serious."

"What happened to him?"

"We don't know." Sango replied. "He ran away."

"I don't think he's dead." Kikyo finally commented with a serious expression. "Kagura would not be attacking any of you if Naraku was dead. Her only desire is to be free in the wind."

"Really?" Sango asked.

"Shippo had noticed that she never seemed all that motivated when she was fighting us. Like she didn't really want to be there." Miroku added and asked Kikyo, "but how do you know what she desires?"

"A couple of years ago, I was hunting Naraku with another demon. Apparently he wanted revenge too. We were tracking him through his scent, but I couldn't sense any shards, so we didn't reveal ourselves. I was right to hold back my temporary companion because who we found was Kagura. She was just...dancing. Flying through the sky and dancing in the wind. She looked so peaceful, it was hard to believe she was the same woman who had attacked us all those times in the past, but it was definitely her."

"Interesting." Miroku receded into himself, deep in thought. The cavern was silent while they waited for him to finish his thought process. "The damage to Naraku must be so severe that he had to isolate himself, even from his incarnations. So when you found her, even Kagura had no idea where he was and she was relishing her freedom."

"So he must be feeling better, or she wouldn't be attacking us." Sango sighed.

"Not too much better though." Kikyo smiled and elaborated, "since this was the first attack by Naraku then that means this is the first time he has felt well enough to interact with his incarnations and the outside world again, but considering he didn't send a puppet with them means that he still isn't fully healed. Which gives us an opportunity."

"If we can find him before he has healed completely..."

"We can kill him!" Inuyasha jumped to his feet and yelled out in his glee.

"Mhm, but we have to find him first." Miroku's words splashed cold water on Inuyasha's enthusiasm. "What were you going to say before, about the lead?"

"Oh, yes. I have a lead to a _Seer_."

"A what?" Inuyasha asked with a confused expression.

"They are a special sect of people that have the ability to see into time. They are able to see the futures yet to come, recall anything from the past and see events currently happening in any plane of existence." Miroku explained perfectly. "However they don't communicate with outsiders and generally don't divulge information about time to anyone. In fact nobody even knows where their temple is."

"Actually that's not entirely true. Its true that Seers don't like to communicate with outsiders and generally don't share information about time with commoners or even with nobles, but they _do_ communicate with the Elder Priestesses in the case of a threat to any plane of existence."

"They do?!" Miroku was the one who was the most shocked. "I thought they didn't speak to anyone!"

"They have to. The priestesses are the force best equipped to deal with issues in all three planes of existence."

"I don't know what that means." Inuyasha admitted slowly as he listened to the exchange between the two intellectuals of the group. Sango shrugged, also not fully understanding.

"The three planes of existence are: the 'Physical Plane' – where humans, demons, plants and animals reside, the 'Spiritual Plane' – where spirits, demigods and gods reside and the 'Underworld' – where denizens of the underworld and the souls of the dead pass to and reside in. Priestesses are the only ones who have a connection with all three planes of existence. We live in the physical plane, draw power from the spiritual plane and send our enemies to the underworld. Does that make sense?" Kikyo asked the two of them and they both nodded.

"Okay so, the Elder Priestesses can communicate with the Seers in the case of a threat to a plane of existence, but how does that help us?" Miroku asked. "You're not technically a priestess anymore. I doubt they would just let you or the rest of us walk into the temple."

"They wouldn't. Except in the case of the Sacred Jewel of the Four Souls falling into the hands of an immensely powerful and evil half-demon."

"You think they'd let us in because of Naraku?"

"I know they will. Even more so if they have received a message from the Seers about him."

"If they have received a message, how come we haven't seen any other priestesses fighting him?" Sango asked.

"Possibly because not every prediction the Seers give the Elders comes true."

"Meaning?" Inuyasha asked, confused and impatient.

"They can see every conceivable future and depending on events in the present the future that actually comes to past is only one of many possibilities. So not everything they See actually comes to pass. A lot of it doesn't, so the Elders always listen to their warnings privately and don't actually act on them unless there is a huge amount of evidence pointing to a possibility becoming reality."

"So you're basically saying that they usually get it wrong?" Inuyasha asked.

"Well...no, they always get it right...but only one possibility actually happens."

"I think I got it."

"Its okay Inuyasha, its complicated and you don't really need to understand how it works, just know that they're the ones who know where Naraku is. The problem is...if they don't think he is a big enough threat, they won't tell us anything." Miroku stoked his chin in thought.

"They will tell us."

"How can you be so confident Kikyo?" Sango asked.

"My incarnation is dead. They have to tell us." She sighed tiredly. "We will tell them what she did to him and what happened to her, that will hopefully direct them to the future or present that we want, it depends on what they See, but they have to tell us whatever they See. She was the only one who could outright kill him, she made that obvious to all of you five years ago."

They all nodded when she paused, even Inuyasha.

"Now that she is gone, we have to resort to a different tactic. Hopefully my initial plan hasn't been ruined, but if the spark of light I planted in his shard is still there, then we have a very good chance to kill him. We'll need to get as many priestesses to help us do this as we can, my power has been fading ever since my incarnation took back her soul."

"Alright, so we have a plan then." Miroku clapped his hands and smiled for the first time in days.

"Find the Priestess Temple. Convince them to let us inside. Speak with the Elder Priestesses and beg them to let us speak with the Seers. Convince the Seers that Naraku is a huge threat and point them towards his location. Get them to tell us his location. Find said location and have the final fight against our nemesis Naraku. Kill him and get revenge for everything he's done while simultaneously bringing peace to Edo." Sango listed off their goals one by one. "Did I miss anything."

"Come back and give my incarnation last rights so her soul can pass on." Kikyo added with a sad smile.

"Sounds like a plan! I like plans." Inuyasha added with a grin and hugged Kikyo.


	7. Chapter 6 - Adrift

The Stars

 **Chapter 6 ~ Adrift**

All around there was a darkness so deep that no light could pierce it. No sound could pierce it. However it was a warm and comforting darkness, like a mother's embrace.

There was no concept of time or space there and the sole inhabitant of this darkness had no way of knowing how long they had been there. Under normal circumstances that would have been a worrying thought, but the inhabitant was so very tired. Not the kind of tired one feels after rigorous physical activity.

Something deeper.

An exhaustion so deep that it could be felt within one's bones, within one's soul. The inhabitant relished the opportunity to rest within the darkness. They thought of nothing, felt nothing and desired nothing.

After an exceedingly long time within this peaceful darkness, something rushed past the inhabitant's side. It was not something physical. It was something magical. That which had rushed past their side was the magic within a ley line that ran within and without the Earth.

It was a connection, to the outside world.

Slowly, the inhabitant began to remember all that was waiting for them beyond the darkness and the massive duty that had been thrust upon them. They didn't want to leave the darkness, but could feel the pull of reality from beyond the veil of darkness.

With a deep sigh and a sad smile, the inhabitant rolled onto their side and reached out to the magical ley line rushing past them. Instantly, the concious mind was sucked out of the darkness and back within their own mind and body.

Blue eyes shot open and a soft groan escaped from cracked lips. The pain pulsing throughout her body was a vivid reminder of what had happened to her before she had entered the darkness. She licked her lips and wondered how she was alive, but couldn't muster the energy to move any part of her aching body.

Her muscles were heavy, heavier than they had ever been before. She hadn't even felt this drained after her first training session. The memory brought a smile to her lips, but another bout of pain tore it from her face and she groaned aloud as every part of her body throbbed in pain.

The sudden movement of two black foxes next to her bed caused her to gasp and flinch, but the slight movement only caused more pain and the gasp came out sounding strangled and alien.

The two foxes immediately transformed into two humanoid demons who appeared to be in their twenties. A woman with green eyes and a man with blue eyes. The blue eyed man was already at the injured woman's bedside with his hands hovering over her covered and shivering form.

"She actually woke up." The green eyed woman commented dispassionately while she moved her silky black hair out of her eyes so she could get a better look at the blue eyed woman in their bed.

"She shouldn't be awake yet." The blue eyed man whispered under his breath, but both women heard him, although neither of them answered him.

The blue eyed man closed his eyes and whispered something in another language. The bedridden woman had no idea what he was saying, but the language he was speaking was obviously complex and it sounded ancient to her ears.

After a few seconds of what sounded like chanting, a vase next to the bed slightly shook as a large tendril of water slithered out like a snake. It flew through the air until it was hovering underneath the blue-eyed man's hands. He continued to chant while he slowly moved one of his hands so he could carefully pull the linens away from the bedridden woman's body.

All the hair on the injured woman's body immediately stood on end as she was hit with the cold air around them. She was completely naked aside from the stark white bandages that were expertly tied around all four of her limbs, each individual finger, both her shoulders, her neck, her collar and the tops of her ample breasts, her hips, her ribs and the top of her stomach.

Confronted with the reality that she was sort-of naked, in front of a strange man, the blue eyed woman's muscles tensed up and she continued to shiver.

The furry black fox ears sitting atop the man's head twitched as he moved his hand back above the floating tendril of water. His chanting grew louder and more intense as he pushed the water towards the bedridden woman's body. She shut her eyes in fear and awaited for the pain she was expecting. However the pain never came, instead she felt a soothing sensation emanating from her core outwards. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that the water had formed a circle on the bare skin of her belly and vein-like tendrils of water had spread outwards from it all over her body.

The blue eyed man smiled softly at the injured woman and made a fist with his left hand in the middle of his chest. With two fingers extended outwards on his right hand, he drew a circle shape within the water on the injured woman's exposed stomach before he chanted something long and complex. Once he was finished with his chant, he drew another circle shape within the water in the opposite direction before lifting his fingers upwards. As soon as his fingers left her skin, all the water on her body slowly slithered upwards and formed a floating orb above the blue eyed man's upright fingers.

He smiled at her again before he stood up and walked outside the hut with the orb of water.

It wasn't until he was gone that the injured woman realised that she was feeling better. The blue eyed fox-demon was obviously a trained mage with an affinity for water and he had used healing magic on her. She had no way of knowing how long he had been doing this, but by the time the man returned to the hut, she was filled with exhaustion.

As he pulled a fresh linen cloth over her body, he leaned down to brush her hair out of her eyes and said to her, "sleep."

As soon as the word left his lips, she was already deeply asleep. He smiled softly to himself, but frowned when he pulled his hand away from her head and long strands of black hair softly came away from her head.

* * *

She slept through the next three days, but the blue eyed fox demon continued to heal her with his water magic, as he had been doing since they found her more than a week ago.

"She wont wake up again." The female, green eyed, fox demon said to her brother.

"Yes she will." He frowned and disagreed with her.

"Keep doing your best to save her then, but it doesn't matter even if she does wake up." She glared at the bedridden woman and growled out, "she's the same as all the rest."

"Stop it." He stepped in front of his sister and blocked her view of their injured guest. She sighed and softly pat his head before she grabbed the axe leaning next to the hut entrance and left the hut.

It wasn't until he could hear the rhythmic sound of his sister chopping firewood that the blue-eyed man visibly relaxed.

"Wa-" a strained sound from the injured woman immediately brought the blue-eyed man to her side. He helped her to sit up against the wooden headboard behind her before he gently moved the hair sticking to her face.

"What is it?" He asked with a soft smile on his handsome face.

"Wat-er-" was all she could get out before a dry cough stole the rest of her words from her lips. However the blue-eyed man understood her and a he brought her a bowl of water from a large water cask on the other side of the hut.

"Drink slowly," he said to her while he lifted the bowl to her lips and allowed her to take small sips. Once she was satiated, he returned the bowl to the shelf above the cask.

"Thank you." She said to him as he turned around to return to her side. He smiled and nodded slowly.

Just as she opened her mouth to ask him something, the green-eyed woman loudly entered the hut with a large pile of firewood in her arms. She carefully stacked it next to the cask of water before she spun around to glare at the injured woman.

"So she's awake again."

"I told you she would wake up." The blue eyed man smiled at his sister.

She scoffed and turned her attention to the blue eyed woman in their bed, "what's your name human?"

"My name?" She asked with a dumb look on her face.

"Yeah...everyone has one." Her glare intensified. "Don't tell me yo-"

"I'm Masaru!" The blue eyed man quickly interjected before his sister could say anything else. He gestured to his sister and introduced her too, "and this surly woman is my older sister, Keiko. Pleased to meet you."

His smile was almost blinding and the injured woman had to blink to herself for a moment before she realised that Masaru and Keiko were waiting for her to reply.

"My name is Higurashi Kagome." She bowed her head slowly before she added, "thank you for saving my life."

"Higurashi Kagome is quite a long name." Masaru smiled sweetly while his older sister scowled and walked over to the open fire pit so she could start a fire.

"Please call me Kagome." She smiled back at him.

"Can she walk?" Keiko asked while she dropped a few cuts of firewood into the fire pit.

"With help, she should be able to." Masaru was the one who answered when Kagome turned to look at him with an unsure gaze.

"She needs to see the chief." Keiko continued as she dropped a ball of purple fox-fire onto the firewood. When the magic touched the wood, it immediately caught on fire.

"Will you take her to see him sis?" Masaru asked with a sweet smile on his face. A frown softly settled onto Kagome's face at his words, she had expected the young man to be the one who would help her.

"Yeah sure, we both know I can't cook." She turned her sharp green eyes onto Kagome and the human woman couldn't stop her flinch. "Can't I just carry her?"

"She needs to move her body or her muscles will waste away until she won't be able to use them anymore." Masaru replied while he pulled a large black pot onto the fire pit from the corner of the hut. The fact he knew about muscle atrophy did not surprise Kagome, the demon mages of the feudal era knew many things long before human-kind discovered the same things with science.

"Can you stand?" Keiko asked while she stood next to the bed with both her hands on her hips.

Kagome didn't reply and instead slid to the side of the bed until both her legs were hanging off the side. She gulped and gently touched the soles of her feet onto the wooden floor. Gaining confidence, she put more of her weight onto her feet until she was unsteadily standing upright. Standing took considerable effort on her part which was evident by her creased brow.

"Good." Keiko commented and left Kagome there standing while she went to the cupboard on the other side of the hut next to the cask of water. Kagome didn't watch what the other woman did and instead hugged her shivering torso and did her best not to fall over. Keiko returned with a simple blue kimono over her arm.

"Turn around," she commanded and Kagome did as she was told.

Keiko grabbed Kagome's long, black hair so she could sling it over the front of the human woman's shoulder. However once Keiko let go of the hair, it all painlessly tore away from Kagome's scalp and softly fell around them both.

"What...?" Kagome stood stupefied, with both her hands outstretched, as long strands of black hair fell all around her like snow. She slowly turned around to find a matching expression on Keiko's face.

Finally when she realised what had happened, she slowly lifted one of her hands to her head and felt the smooth bald skin. "My hair..."

Before she could say anything else, Masaru immediately rushed over to the dumb-struck pair and quickly helped Kagome to sit down on the bed. She stared up at him while tightly grasping long strands of black hair in both of her hands.

"Try and stay calm Kagome," he slowly whispered to her as he gently pulled the loose strands of hair from her head and the bandages on her body. As soon as he was done, she opened her fists and allowed the stands of hair within to fall to the ground as well. She was deadly calm.

"I'm calm," she replied expressionlessly and turned to Keiko to say, "lets go see your chief."

The female fox demon nodded slowly and helped Kagome to get dressed in the blue winter Kimono before she tied a simple blue cloth around her waist and pulled on white tabi and new straw sandals onto her feet. It wasn't too cold outside so they didn't need to worry about dressing her with any inner layers or traditional obi, but Masaru made Kagome wear a black, cotton haori before they left.

Kagome didn't want to rely on the taller woman by her side too much since it was fairly obvious that Keiko didn't like her, but she couldn't help but lean most of her weight onto the demon woman's arms when they walked outside of the hut. It was a very cold and dreary day. She glanced up towards the sky and saw many dark rain-clouds rushing overhead.

The snow was late this year, usually it snowed all through the new year and onwards until the end of the winter months in Edo, but this year it had been warmer. It felt like Autumn had extended past the new year and winter was late in coming.

Kaede had always said it was a dark omen when the seasons were affected and changed. Kagome wasn't a superstitious person, but she couldn't help but agree with Kaede as she felt the cold wind bite through her clothing. It still wasn't cold enough for snow and the thought that it might not fall this year worried her.

When Naraku was at full strength, the seasons had always been mild, as if the country had been thrust into a perpetual Autumn. For the past five years Edo had experienced normal seasons once again, but now that Naraku's minions were active again the weather seemed to be falling back into a familiar pattern. It wouldn't be long before he was at full strength once again. That was what the weather was telling her.

"What is it?" Keiko asked her once the human woman seemed to return to reality after staring at the sky for a long time with a creased brow.

"Naraku." Kagome whispered, as if speaking his name louder might summon him there.

"What?" The fox-demon woman had no idea what she was talking about and her voice was sharp and impatient.

"Not a what, a who." Kagome replied slowly and took a step forward.

"Who then." Keiko corrected herself with a sneer and assisted the shorter woman in walking towards the gate in the wooden fence surrounding their lands. It wasn't very far, but with each step Kagome's breath grew more laboured.

"My nemesis." She replied shakily once they made it to the gate and Keiko leaned her against the fence so she could open it.

"A demon?" The fox demon stiffened and asked with a strained voice.

"A half demon." Kagome replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

"An abomination then. Is that why you fight it?" Keiko turned to the human and held out her toned arms for her to lean on and use for support. Kagome gratefully leaned back on the demon and they both walked out of the fox siblings' land.

"May I tell you later? Is it hard for me to breath now."

"Fine." Keiko responded, her voice cold.

Keiko and Masaru's hut was inside a small forest near a tall mountain range. Their land was not inside a village. The closest village, and the one Keiko was taking Kagome too, was built inside a closed off valley. The only entrance into the village was from a natural gateway formed by two mountains. Encircling the valley was a lush forest and encircling the forest were mountains on every side.

It was the largest valley Kagome had laid eyes upon. She had no idea such a village had even been built in the Central Lands. However when they entered the village, Kagome saw that all of the inhabitants were fox-demons, wolf-demons, jackal-demons and an assortment of other dog-demons. Although fox-demons seemed to be the largest demographic in the village.

There were no humans whatsoever.

A village without any humans did not exist in the Central Lands. So she could only assume that she was in one of the Faction Lands, but she had no idea where and she didn't want to ask anyone.

By the time Keiko helped Kagome walk through the village and to the building that belonged to the Village Chief, she was exhausted. Every part of her injured body ached. Thankfully none of her wounds had re-opened and she couldn't feel any new pain. In fact, she felt stronger. Tired, but stronger.

Moving her body around had been good for her and she could feel renewed strength in her injured limbs.

She had a chance to sit down and think about what had changed within her when a young fox-demon woman led Keiko and herself to sit inside a guest room in the building. They were provided with tea and the fire pit in the middle of the room had been lit. Obviously the Village Chief of such a large village was a busy man and they would need to wait for him.

Neither Kagome or Keiko spoke to each other while they silently drank their tea. The blue-eyed woman had been expecting her taller companion to ask her about Naraku again, but it didn't seem like she wanted to talk to her while they were inside the village. This suited Kagome just fine since it gave her a chance to meditate and try to examine what had changed within her body.

Once she closed her eyes and turned all of her senses inwards, Kagome was immediately overwhelmed by the amount of power that was actively humming within. At first she thought it was a spell that Masaru had cast on her, but she slowly realised that it was spiritual magic. It was her own power.

She was in awe. She hadn't even realised that her own power had been active within her own body.

She remembered every excruciating second of falling off the cliff-side and having every part of her body broken in crystal clear detail. She knew for a fact that she had never actually dispelled the enhancement magic she had cast on her own body during the fight with the giants, but she never expected that it would remain active even after her near-death experience. Even now it was still active and it was likely the only reason that she was able to move and use her body at all.

She knew that she could turn the power off at will, but there was no mental or physical strain on her as a result of this magic being active. Evidently her body had already grown used to this amount of power being active constantly.

Everything she knew about magic dictated that this amount of power being active would limit her ability to using other magic or powers, but she could not feel a limit being reached as she activated more enhancement magic within her body. Whatever limit she had acquired through her harsh physical and mental training over the past five years had obviously been extended by her near-death experience.

Somehow she had surpassed the limit of the amount of spiritual magic she could contain within her own body and use at once. In simple terms, this mean that her body and mind had grown stronger by her recent experience and she had become more receptive to the spiritual magic in the land and the air around her. She wanted to test more, to find what her new limit was and to find out what else had changed, but as she started to absorb spiritual power through her skin and into her body, Keiko broke her out of her meditative stance by slapping her across the face.

"Are you insane?!" She demanded once the magic Kagome had been gathering instantly dispelled and her eyes returned to their normal blue colour.

"What?" Kagome asked softly while cradling her reddening cheek.

"Do you want to bring the whole village down onto our heads?" She crouched down in front of her and asked her with a scowl on her face. "Don't use spiritual magic in a demon village you fool."

"Ah." Realisation spread across Kagome's face and she blushed with embarrassment when she realised what she had been doing without realising. "Sorry."

"You are a very strange woman." Keiko responded with a slight frown and sat down next to her.

"I've been told." Kagome smiled and her blush faded. "Um, Keiko?"

"What?"

"Is this magic not a problem?" Kagome gestured to herself with a questioning expression.

"What are you talking about? You're not using any." Keiko scoffed and glared at her. "Aren't you?"

"I am. Its been active since before I almost died."

"You...what?" she whispered and gently grabbed Kagome's arm so she could inspect it. Her green eyes softly glowed as she used some kind of spell or ability to enhance her vision. "It really is active."

"So is it a problem?"

"No. Most demons wont be able to sense that, its not purification magic." Her eyes stopped glowing and she released Kagome's arm.

"Most demons? But you can see it?" Kagome asked, her curiosity plain to see on her face.

"Masaru and I have a connection to the spiritual plane."

"Like priestesses?" Kagome asked slowly. "Why only you?"

"Miss Keiko?" Her answer was interrupted when the female fox demon that had brought them to the guest room opened the door and addressed the green-eyed demon by Kagome's side. "Chief Hakaru will see you and your guest now."

"Come." Keiko said simply as she grabbed Kagome's forearm and helped her to stand.

Kagome leaned onto Keiko once again and the two of them followed the other female demon out into the hallway and into the large audience hall in the back of the building. The female bowed at the door and left the room after closing Kagome and Keiko inside.

Keiko sat Kagome down in front of the Village Chief's chair and kneeled down next to her.

They didn't have to wait long for the chief to arrive. He had the grey hair and fur of an extremely ancient demon elder and he walked with a gait that indicated he had been badly injured in recent years. Nobody breathed a word while the chief seated himself on his chair and looked over Kagome slowly.

"So she survived." He whispered in awe to himself before he turned to Keiko and said, "as agreed, you will tell me everything that has happened since you and your brother found this human."

"Yes Chief Hakaru." Keiko replied with a bow and started her recount. "My brother and I could sense a great battle occurring far away from this village. While the battlefield was far from here in the Central Lands, it was not far enough for us to simply be able to ignore it. The amount of spiritual power being expended by the two priestesses in the group was too powerful for us to ignore."

"Kikyo?" Kagome whispered to herself and Keiko glared at her when she interrupted. Kagome blushed and bowed deeply to both of them in apology. Chief Hakaru raised an eyebrow at her actions and gestured to Keiko to continue.

"Once the battle was well and truly over and the victors had retreated from the battlefield, another demon arrived. He was more powerful than anyone else there and we had no idea why he was there, but after inspecting this human at the bottom of the ravine near the battlefield, he left with a fox-demon kit from the victors' group.

"I wanted to leave them all alone since they decided to leave our village alone, but Masaru said that the human at the bottom of the ravine was somehow still alive. I couldn't convince him to leave her to die so we left our hut to come and retrieve her. It became apparent to me afterwards that Masaru could clearly sense the spiritual magic active within and around her dying body, but I wasn't able to sense any spiritual magic until we were close enough to see her body.

"He convinced me to save her and we carried her from the bottom of that ravine to our lands in the East."

"The East?!" Kagome immediately exclaimed in shock and fear.

"Calm yourself." The Chief turned and spoke to her. "Nobody in this village aside from the Dark Fox siblings and myself know that you are a priestess. You are safe here."

"Don't interrupt again." Keiko glared at her and Kagome bowed once again, but the scent of her fear had not faded.

"Keiko wait." Chief Hakaru held up his hand and he walked upto Kagome. He gently lifted her head with a finger under her chin until he could look into her eyes. "Do you think you will be attacked here?"

"The Lords of the Faction Lands are bound by law to attack and kill any anti-demon humans found in their lands." Kagome replied robotically, reciting what she had learned.

"Do you think the Eastern Lord would personally come to this village to kill you?" He asked with an amused smile on his face.

"Yes?" Kagome replied, unsure.

"I know who you are, Shikon Priestess." Kagome gasped in response and grimaced. "I know you are not our enemy. Your enemy is out there, gathering shards of the Sacred Jewel and putting humans and demons alike at risk."

"Yes." She replied resolutely and made her hands into fists.

He nodded and turned to Keiko. "Continue."

It took the green-eyed woman a moment to gather her composure before she could continue her story. "It took us a day and a night to carry her body back to our hut. I had expected it to take much longer, but no matter what we did to her body her injuries did not worsen, so we decided to forgo being careful with her in favour of returning to our lands with speed.

"As soon as we were back, Masaru stripped her, washed her, healed the worst of her injuries to the best of his ability and bandaged her. I had left him to his work so I could report to you, Chief Hakaru." She bowed as she reached the end of her report.

"Your brother will need to come and see me so he can describe his work on the Shikon Priestess, but for the moment I am pleased with your report Keiko. You have both done well." He slowly got up and pat her head with a smile. Keiko just looked at him with a very confused expression on her face.

"Sir?" She asked but he simply smiled at her while he helped Kagome to her feet so he could inspect her.

"I understand that humans value their privacy, but would you be against removing your clothing so I may see Masaru's work on your body?" He had expected her to refuse but he was surprised when she nodded and immediately undid the knot holding her kimono closed. Keiko stood up to help her fully remove the cloth and to stand aside with it in her arms while the chief inspected the damage to Kagome's body.

He gently brushed his fingers over her shoulder and walked around to inspect her back. Some of her wounds had already healed and scarred thanks to Masaru's healing magic, but there were many parts of her body that were still tender to the touch and it would take her a long time to reach her former physical fitness.

"Sir? I feel that I should tell you that she currently has spiritual magic active within her body." Keiko spoke out when Chief Hakaru reached out and gently brushed his fingers over a particularly ugly scar that twisted up the back of her neck to stop behind her right ear. He glanced at her bald head with a sad smile and gently brushed his fingers down her spine as his eyes took in every scar, wound and bruise. To both of their surprise, she did not flinch when he touched her.

"Right at this moment?" He walked around her so he could look into her eyes and smiled. "I cannot sense any purification magic. Tell me what you see Keiko."

"Yes sir. It is a form of enhancement magic, similar to the magic Masaru casts on my own body, but its power source comes from spiritual energy rather than water or moisture like Masaru's does. She said that it had been active since before she almost died."

"Is that so?" His surprise was clear on his face. "You may speak for yourself Shikon Priestess."

"How do you know who I am?" She asked, apparently not bothered by her nakedness.

"Most demons have only heard of the Shikon Jewel and the subsequent line of priestesses who have protected it over the years in rumour or myth. Your story is the first time I have ever heard of the Jewel being fragmented and scattered." He turned around and sat back down on his throne with a soft groan. "I am an old demon, even by demon standards. Most demons die in battle before they have a chance to reach my age.

"I have made many friends and allies over my long years on this plane and I have heard many things. Anybody would know who you are if they paid enough attention to the things happening in the Central Lands. Just like anyone would know about your nemesis who I hear has been in possession of a rather large shard of the jewel for a long time."

"Is that the half-demon Naraku?" Keiko asked with an eyebrow raised before Kagome could answer him. "The one you mentioned before?"

"Yes." Kagome told them Kikyo and Onigumo's story and what had happened with Inuyasha and the two of them. How Onigumo summoned demons and became the half-demon Naraku. How Naraku caused them to betray one another so he could steal the jewel, how Kikyo died protecting it and took it with her to the underworld.

"If Kikyo died and took the jewel with her to the underworld...how did you come to posses it?" Keiko asked.

Kagome hesitated in answering.

"You wont say?" The green-eyed woman seemed angry.

"If I told you that I came here by the magic of the Gods, would you believe me?" Kagome had a self-deprecating smile on her face as she turned her head to look at Keiko.

"I believe you, Shikon Priestess." Chief Hakaru was the one who answered her.

"...I came here...from five hundred years in the future. Kikyo is my predecessor, I'm her reincarnation. The Shikon Jewel returned to this world through my body."

"That's...not possible...Is it?" Keiko turned to ask Chief Hakaru.

"I wont say that its impossible. The Gods and Goddesses residing in the Spiritual Plane sometimes choose to intervene in the goings on of the Physical Plane. Although it is usually the God and Goddess of War who choose to use their powers on our world. I've never heard of the God and Goddess of Time intervening before." He drew within himself to think on the things Kagome told them before he glanced at her with a smile. "Keiko, help our guest get dressed."

"Yes Sir." She replied and immediately helped Kagome's shivering form back into her borrowed clothing.

"Five hundred years? Is that correct?"

"Yes." Kagome replied once she was dressed again.

"Tell me, how do you feel about demons? From your actions I would guess that you are different from most other priestesses of this time, but I want to hear from you."

"How do I feel about them? What do you mean?"

"I'll be more specific. Do you consider demons to be your enemies?" At his question, Keiko immediately tensed up and trained her piercing green eyes on Kagome. She didn't want to miss a word.

"I do not. Naraku is my enemy because he is an evil creature. He isn't evil by nature of his race, he is evil because he doesn't care about the indiscriminate destruction he causes in pursuit of his goal. It doesn't matter to me that he is a half-demon. One of my closest allies and friend is also a half-demon." She paused to smile as she thought of Inuyasha which caused Keiko's glare to intensify. "My adopted son is a fox-demon by the name of Shippo. My brothers and sisters of this world are a varied mix of humans, demons and half-demons.

"Race is not important. Action is important. I wont say that the future is very different, because its becoming increasingly clear to me that racist behaviour will never truly stop. There will always be a divide, but I hope that outright war between humans and demons will someday come to a halt.

"War only breeds loneliness, revenge and hatred. These emotions will only breed more evil creatures like Naraku and nobody should be pushed into that role. Nobody should have to fight against it."

"Interesting." Chief Hakaru commented. "For someone not born into this time, you are quite determined."

"This is my time too now. My way back into the future has been sealed off for many years." She smiled softly. "The God and Goddess of time sent me here to accomplish something. I'm obviously here to finally defeat Naraku, but since spending the last five years trapped here I have come to accept that I am here for some other purpose besides Naraku and the Jewel."

"Do you think you'll be sent home once you've accomplished what the God and Goddess desire?"

"No. I have accepted that this is my time now. This is my home. I will do everything in my power to protect it and to keep the people within it safe."

"Your presence here will undoubtedly change your future."

"I know." Her expression hardened and all of her muscles tensed up with her response. "I will ensure that the future we ride into will be a better one than the future I came from."

"How very interesting." Chief Hakaru chuckled to himself. "Shikon Priestess and Champion of Time. I'm glad I lived long enough to meet you young one, your story will undoubtedly be very interesting to watch."

"I'm..." Keiko whispered to herself. "She's different?"

"Very much so Keiko. She might be the one you and your brother have been waiting for all these years. Its fortunate your brother convinced you to save her life."

"Pardon?" Kagome asked, her confusion clear on her face.

"Oh of course, you wouldn't know." Chief Hakaru chuckled to himself. "You mentioned that your son was a fox demon, do you remember the colour of his fox fire?"

"Of course, its blue." Kagome replied with a smile.

"Most fox demons have blue, green or orange fox fire. The rare white-haired foxes will have white or silver fox fire, but Masaru and Keiko have purple fox fire. Did you notice?"

"I did, but I didn't think much of it at the time, I just attributed it to the colour of their fur. I admit I am still a novice when it comes to demons." She bowed in apology and Keiko flinched in surprise.

"Masaru and Keiko are the last known living members of the Dark Fox Clan. A centuries old clan that have a unique connection with the spiritual plane and had always allied themselves with the priestesses of old. Long before humans and demons turned against each other, before they forgot the real threats of the universe. None but the children of this bloodline have purple fox fire."

Kagome's surprise was clear on her face as she turned her gaze onto Keiko's fearful form. The woman was expecting an attack, it was clear from the way her ears were drooping. Kagome couldn't help the sad smile that creped onto her face when she was reminded of Shippo.

"Do you expect me to attack you Keiko?"

"Your kind hunts us..."

"The priestesses of this time are obviously misguided. You wouldn't have saved my life if you were my enemy Keiko." With each word she spoke, Kagome took a step closer to Keiko until she was standing close enough to touch her. She gently cupped the taller woman's cheek as she spoke her next words, "I wont hurt you."

Keiko immediately broke down as Kagome's smiling face dredged up a memory of her old priestess. She sunk to the floor in tears and cried out her heart as Kagome gently ran her hands up and down her muscled back.

Suddenly Keiko sucked in a deep breath and yelled out, "what took you so long to get here?!"

With a small chuckle, Kagome encircled Keiko in a warm embrace and whispered, "I'm here now."

* * *

By the time Keiko calmed down enough to realise what had happen and apologise to Chief Hakaru for her unsightly display, the sun had long since passed the horizon and night had fallen.

"I think the two of you and Masaru have much to discuss." Chief Hakaru smiled at Keiko who was still bowing at his feet. "You should return home."

"Thank you Chief Hakaru." Kagome bowed slowly.

"Masaru will be here to speak with you tomorrow sir." Keiko told him as she raised her head.

"Excellent. I'll have my grandson escort you to the gates." He turned his head towards the main doors of the room and raised his voice, "Isamu!"

A young, male, fox demon opened the doors and stomped into the room with his fox ears alert. He bowed to Chief Hakaru before softly sneering at Kagome and Keiko. "Yes Grandfather?"

"Please escort my guests to the village gates." He gestured to the two women in the room.

"Yes sir." He immediately responded and waited for Keiko to assist Kagome in standing. The two women bowed one final time to Chief Hakaru before they followed his grandson, Isamu, out of the building.

It was fairly obvious that Isamu did not like either of them as he silently led them towards the only entrance and exit from the village. He never spoke to them and refused to make eye contact with Kagome, instead glaring in her general direction, somewhere above her head. When they finally exited the village, Keiko let out a deep sigh.

"He's so suffocating to be around." She said to Kagome once they were out of earshot of the village.

"He doesn't like humans much?"

"That's putting it lightly. He doesn't like me or my brother much either, only because Chief Hakaru told him our back story." Keiko frowned softly. "Ever since Chief Hakaru's son died on patrol, Isamu has been the chief's sole heir."

"I hope Chief Hakaru lives long enough to see his grandson grow up." Kagome smiled when Keiko turned her head to her in surprise.

"You really are different." Keiko chucked to herself and Kagome nodded cheerfully.


End file.
